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    </style></head><body><div class="book"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="idp66345488"></a>The Mutt E-Mail Client</h1></div><div><div class="author"><h3 class="author"><span class="firstname">Michael</span> <span class="surname">Elkins</span></h3><code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:me@cs.hmc.edu">me@cs.hmc.edu</a>&gt;</code></div></div><div><p class="releaseinfo">version 1.5.24 (2015-08-30)</p></div><div><div class="abstract"><p class="title"><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p>
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">All mail clients suck.  This one just sucks less.</span>”</span> —
me, circa 1995
</p></div></div></div><hr /></div><div class="toc"><p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#intro">1. Introduction</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#homepage">1. Mutt Home Page</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#muttlists">2. Mailing Lists</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#distribution">3. Getting Mutt</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#irc">4. Mutt Online Resources</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#contrib">5. Contributing to Mutt</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#typo">6. Typographical Conventions</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#copyright">7. Copyright</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#gettingstarted">2. Getting Started</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#core-concepts">1. Core Concepts</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#concept-screens-and-menus">2. Screens and Menus</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#intro-index">2.1. Index</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#intro-pager">2.2. Pager</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#intro-browser">2.3. File Browser</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#intro-help">2.4. Help</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#intro-compose">2.5. Compose Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#intro-alias">2.6. Alias Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#intro-attach">2.7. Attachment Menu</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#menus">3. Moving Around in Menus</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#editing">4. Editing Input Fields</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#editing-intro">4.1. Introduction</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#editing-history">4.2. History</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#reading">5. Reading Mail</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#index-menu">5.1. The Message Index</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pager-menu">5.2. The Pager</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#threads">5.3. Threaded Mode</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reading-misc">5.4. Miscellaneous Functions</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#sending">6. Sending Mail</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sending-intro">6.1. Introduction</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#edit-header">6.2. Editing the Message Header</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sending-crypto">6.3. Sending Cryptographically Signed/Encrypted Messages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ff">6.4. Sending Format=Flowed Messages</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#forwarding-mail">7. Forwarding and Bouncing Mail</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#postponing-mail">8. Postponing Mail</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#configuration">3. Configuration</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#configuration-files">1. Location of Initialization Files</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#muttrc-syntax">2. Syntax of Initialization Files</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#addrgroup">3. Address Groups</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#alias">4. Defining/Using Aliases</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#bind">5. Changing the Default Key Bindings</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#charset-hook">6. Defining Aliases for Character Sets</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#folder-hook">7. Setting Variables Based Upon Mailbox</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#macro">8. Keyboard Macros</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#color">9. Using Color and Mono Video Attributes</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#msg-hdr-display">10. Message Header Display</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hdr-folding">10.1. Header Display</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ignore">10.2. Selecting Headers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hdr-order">10.3. Ordering Displayed Headers</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#alternates">11. Alternative Addresses</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#lists">12. Mailing Lists</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#mbox-hook">13. Using Multiple Spool Mailboxes</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#mailboxes">14. Monitoring Incoming Mail</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#my-hdr">15. User-Defined Headers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#save-hook">16. Specify Default Save Mailbox</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#fcc-hook">17. Specify Default Fcc: Mailbox When Composing</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#fcc-save-hook">18. Specify Default Save Filename and Default Fcc: Mailbox at Once</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#send-hook">19. Change Settings Based Upon Message Recipients</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#message-hook">20. Change Settings Before Formatting a Message</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#crypt-hook">21. Choosing the Cryptographic Key of the Recipient</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#push">22. Adding Key Sequences to the Keyboard Buffer</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#exec">23. Executing Functions</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#score-command">24. Message Scoring</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#spam">25. Spam Detection</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set">26. Setting and Querying Variables</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#var-types">26.1. Variable Types</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#set-commands">26.2. Commands</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#set-myvar">26.3. User-Defined Variables</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#set-conversions">26.4. Type Conversions</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#source">27. Reading Initialization Commands From Another File</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#unhook">28. Removing Hooks</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#formatstrings">29. Format Strings</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#formatstrings-basics">29.1. Basic usage</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#formatstrings-conditionals">29.2. Conditionals</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#formatstrings-filters">29.3. Filters</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#formatstrings-padding">29.4. Padding</a></span></dt></dl></dd></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#advancedusage">4. Advanced Usage</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#charset-handling">1. Character Set Handling</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#regexp">2. Regular Expressions</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#patterns">3. Patterns: Searching, Limiting and Tagging</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#patterns-modifier">3.1. Pattern Modifier</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#simple-searches">3.2. Simple Searches</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#complex-patterns">3.3. Nesting and Boolean Operators</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#date-patterns">3.4. Searching by Date</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#tags">4. Using Tags</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#hooks">5. Using Hooks</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pattern-hook">5.1. Message Matching in Hooks</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mailbox-hook">5.2. Mailbox Matching in Hooks</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#query">6. External Address Queries</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#mailbox-formats">7. Mailbox Formats</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#shortcuts">8. Mailbox Shortcuts</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#using-lists">9. Handling Mailing Lists</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#new-mail">10. New Mail Detection</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#new-mail-formats">10.1. How New Mail Detection Works</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#new-mail-polling">10.2. Polling For New Mail</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#editing-threads">11. Editing Threads</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#link-threads">11.1. Linking Threads</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#break-threads">11.2. Breaking Threads</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#dsn">12. Delivery Status Notification (DSN) Support</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#urlview">13. Start a WWW Browser on URLs</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#misc-topics">14. Miscellany</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#mimesupport">5. Mutt's MIME Support</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#using-mime">1. Using MIME in Mutt</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mime-overview">1.1. MIME Overview</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mime-pager">1.2. Viewing MIME Messages in the Pager</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#attach-menu">1.3. The Attachment Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#compose-menu">1.4. The Compose Menu</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#mime-types">2. MIME Type Configuration with <code class="literal">mime.types</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#mailcap">3. MIME Viewer Configuration with Mailcap</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mailcap-basics">3.1. The Basics of the Mailcap File</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#secure-mailcap">3.2. Secure Use of Mailcap</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#advanced-mailcap">3.3. Advanced Mailcap Usage</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mailcap-example">3.4. Example Mailcap Files</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#auto-view">4. MIME Autoview</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#alternative-order">5. MIME Multipart/Alternative</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#attachments">6. Attachment Searching and Counting</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#mime-lookup">7. MIME Lookup</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#optionalfeatures">6. Optional Features</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#optionalfeatures-notes">1. General Notes</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#compile-time-features">1.1. Enabling/Disabling Features</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#url-syntax">1.2. URL Syntax</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#ssl">2. SSL/TLS Support</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#pop">3. POP3 Support</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#imap">4. IMAP Support</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-browser">4.1. The IMAP Folder Browser</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-authentication">4.2. Authentication</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#smtp">5. SMTP Support</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#account-hook">6. Managing Multiple Accounts</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#caching">7. Local Caching</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#header-caching">7.1. Header Caching</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#body-caching">7.2. Body Caching</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#cache-dirs">7.3. Cache Directories</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#maint-cache">7.4. Maintenance</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#exact-address">8. Exact Address Generation</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#sending-mixmaster">9. Sending Anonymous Messages via Mixmaster</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#security">7. Security Considerations</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#security-passwords">1. Passwords</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#security-tempfiles">2. Temporary Files</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#security-leaks">3. Information Leaks</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#security-leaks-mid">3.1. Message-Id: headers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#security-leaks-mailto">3.2. <code class="literal">mailto:</code>-style Links</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#security-external">4. External Applications</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#tuning">8. Performance Tuning</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#tuning-mailboxes">1. Reading and Writing Mailboxes</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#tuning-messages">2. Reading Messages from Remote Folders</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#tuning-search">3. Searching and Limiting</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#reference">9. Reference</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#commandline">1. Command-Line Options</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#commands">2. Configuration Commands</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#variables">3. Configuration Variables</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#abort-nosubject">3.1. abort_nosubject</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#abort-unmodified">3.2. abort_unmodified</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#alias-file">3.3. alias_file</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#alias-format">3.4. alias_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#allow-8bit">3.5. allow_8bit</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#allow-ansi">3.6. allow_ansi</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#arrow-cursor">3.7. arrow_cursor</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ascii-chars">3.8. ascii_chars</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#askbcc">3.9. askbcc</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#askcc">3.10. askcc</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#assumed-charset">3.11. assumed_charset</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#attach-charset">3.12. attach_charset</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#attach-format">3.13. attach_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#attach-sep">3.14. attach_sep</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#attach-split">3.15. attach_split</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#attribution">3.16. attribution</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#auto-tag">3.17. auto_tag</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#autoedit">3.18. autoedit</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#beep">3.19. beep</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#beep-new">3.20. beep_new</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#bounce">3.21. bounce</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#bounce-delivered">3.22. bounce_delivered</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#braille-friendly">3.23. braille_friendly</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#certificate-file">3.24. certificate_file</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#charset">3.25. charset</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#check-mbox-size">3.26. check_mbox_size</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#check-new">3.27. check_new</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#collapse-unread">3.28. collapse_unread</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#compose-format">3.29. compose_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#config-charset">3.30. config_charset</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#confirmappend">3.31. confirmappend</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#confirmcreate">3.32. confirmcreate</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#connect-timeout">3.33. connect_timeout</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#content-type">3.34. content_type</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#copy">3.35. copy</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-autoencrypt">3.36. crypt_autoencrypt</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-autopgp">3.37. crypt_autopgp</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-autosign">3.38. crypt_autosign</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-autosmime">3.39. crypt_autosmime</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-confirmhook">3.40. crypt_confirmhook</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-opportunistic-encrypt">3.41. crypt_opportunistic_encrypt</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-replyencrypt">3.42. crypt_replyencrypt</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-replysign">3.43. crypt_replysign</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-replysignencrypted">3.44. crypt_replysignencrypted</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-timestamp">3.45. crypt_timestamp</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-use-gpgme">3.46. crypt_use_gpgme</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-use-pka">3.47. crypt_use_pka</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-verify-sig">3.48. crypt_verify_sig</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#date-format">3.49. date_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#default-hook">3.50. default_hook</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#delete">3.51. delete</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#delete-untag">3.52. delete_untag</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#digest-collapse">3.53. digest_collapse</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#display-filter">3.54. display_filter</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#dotlock-program">3.55. dotlock_program</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#dsn-notify">3.56. dsn_notify</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#dsn-return">3.57. dsn_return</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#duplicate-threads">3.58. duplicate_threads</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#edit-headers">3.59. edit_headers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#editor">3.60. editor</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#encode-from">3.61. encode_from</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#entropy-file">3.62. entropy_file</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#envelope-from-address">3.63. envelope_from_address</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#escape">3.64. escape</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#fast-reply">3.65. fast_reply</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#fcc-attach">3.66. fcc_attach</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#fcc-clear">3.67. fcc_clear</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#folder">3.68. folder</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#folder-format">3.69. folder_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#followup-to">3.70. followup_to</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#force-name">3.71. force_name</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#forward-decode">3.72. forward_decode</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#forward-decrypt">3.73. forward_decrypt</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#forward-edit">3.74. forward_edit</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#forward-format">3.75. forward_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#forward-quote">3.76. forward_quote</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#from">3.77. from</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#gecos-mask">3.78. gecos_mask</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hdrs">3.79. hdrs</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#header">3.80. header</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#header-cache">3.81. header_cache</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#header-cache-compress">3.82. header_cache_compress</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#header-cache-pagesize">3.83. header_cache_pagesize</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#help">3.84. help</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hidden-host">3.85. hidden_host</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hide-limited">3.86. hide_limited</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hide-missing">3.87. hide_missing</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hide-thread-subject">3.88. hide_thread_subject</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hide-top-limited">3.89. hide_top_limited</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hide-top-missing">3.90. hide_top_missing</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#history">3.91. history</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#history-file">3.92. history_file</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#honor-disposition">3.93. honor_disposition</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#honor-followup-to">3.94. honor_followup_to</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hostname">3.95. hostname</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ignore-linear-white-space">3.96. ignore_linear_white_space</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ignore-list-reply-to">3.97. ignore_list_reply_to</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-authenticators">3.98. imap_authenticators</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-check-subscribed">3.99. imap_check_subscribed</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-delim-chars">3.100. imap_delim_chars</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-headers">3.101. imap_headers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-idle">3.102. imap_idle</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-keepalive">3.103. imap_keepalive</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-list-subscribed">3.104. imap_list_subscribed</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-login">3.105. imap_login</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-pass">3.106. imap_pass</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-passive">3.107. imap_passive</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-peek">3.108. imap_peek</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-pipeline-depth">3.109. imap_pipeline_depth</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-servernoise">3.110. imap_servernoise</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-user">3.111. imap_user</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#implicit-autoview">3.112. implicit_autoview</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#include">3.113. include</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#include-onlyfirst">3.114. include_onlyfirst</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#indent-string">3.115. indent_string</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#index-format">3.116. index_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ispell">3.117. ispell</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#keep-flagged">3.118. keep_flagged</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#locale">3.119. locale</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mail-check">3.120. mail_check</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mail-check-recent">3.121. mail_check_recent</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mailcap-path">3.122. mailcap_path</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mailcap-sanitize">3.123. mailcap_sanitize</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#maildir-header-cache-verify">3.124. maildir_header_cache_verify</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#maildir-trash">3.125. maildir_trash</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#maildir-check-cur">3.126. maildir_check_cur</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mark-old">3.127. mark_old</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#markers">3.128. markers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mask">3.129. mask</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mbox">3.130. mbox</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mbox-type">3.131. mbox_type</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#menu-context">3.132. menu_context</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#menu-move-off">3.133. menu_move_off</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#menu-scroll">3.134. menu_scroll</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#message-cache-clean">3.135. message_cache_clean</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#message-cachedir">3.136. message_cachedir</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#message-format">3.137. message_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#meta-key">3.138. meta_key</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#metoo">3.139. metoo</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mh-purge">3.140. mh_purge</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mh-seq-flagged">3.141. mh_seq_flagged</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mh-seq-replied">3.142. mh_seq_replied</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mh-seq-unseen">3.143. mh_seq_unseen</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mime-forward">3.144. mime_forward</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mime-forward-decode">3.145. mime_forward_decode</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mime-forward-rest">3.146. mime_forward_rest</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mix-entry-format">3.147. mix_entry_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mixmaster">3.148. mixmaster</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#move">3.149. move</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#narrow-tree">3.150. narrow_tree</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#net-inc">3.151. net_inc</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pager">3.152. pager</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pager-context">3.153. pager_context</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pager-format">3.154. pager_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pager-index-lines">3.155. pager_index_lines</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pager-stop">3.156. pager_stop</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-auto-decode">3.157. pgp_auto_decode</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-autoinline">3.158. pgp_autoinline</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-check-exit">3.159. pgp_check_exit</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-clearsign-command">3.160. pgp_clearsign_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-decode-command">3.161. pgp_decode_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-decrypt-command">3.162. pgp_decrypt_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-encrypt-only-command">3.163. pgp_encrypt_only_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-encrypt-sign-command">3.164. pgp_encrypt_sign_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-entry-format">3.165. pgp_entry_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-export-command">3.166. pgp_export_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-getkeys-command">3.167. pgp_getkeys_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-good-sign">3.168. pgp_good_sign</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-ignore-subkeys">3.169. pgp_ignore_subkeys</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-import-command">3.170. pgp_import_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-list-pubring-command">3.171. pgp_list_pubring_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-list-secring-command">3.172. pgp_list_secring_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-long-ids">3.173. pgp_long_ids</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-mime-auto">3.174. pgp_mime_auto</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-replyinline">3.175. pgp_replyinline</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-retainable-sigs">3.176. pgp_retainable_sigs</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-show-unusable">3.177. pgp_show_unusable</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-sign-as">3.178. pgp_sign_as</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-sign-command">3.179. pgp_sign_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-sort-keys">3.180. pgp_sort_keys</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-strict-enc">3.181. pgp_strict_enc</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-timeout">3.182. pgp_timeout</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-use-gpg-agent">3.183. pgp_use_gpg_agent</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-verify-command">3.184. pgp_verify_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-verify-key-command">3.185. pgp_verify_key_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pipe-decode">3.186. pipe_decode</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pipe-sep">3.187. pipe_sep</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pipe-split">3.188. pipe_split</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-auth-try-all">3.189. pop_auth_try_all</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-authenticators">3.190. pop_authenticators</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-checkinterval">3.191. pop_checkinterval</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-delete">3.192. pop_delete</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-host">3.193. pop_host</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-last">3.194. pop_last</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-pass">3.195. pop_pass</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-reconnect">3.196. pop_reconnect</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-user">3.197. pop_user</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#post-indent-string">3.198. post_indent_string</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#postpone">3.199. postpone</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#postponed">3.200. postponed</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#postpone-encrypt">3.201. postpone_encrypt</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#postpone-encrypt-as">3.202. postpone_encrypt_as</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#preconnect">3.203. preconnect</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#print">3.204. print</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#print-command">3.205. print_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#print-decode">3.206. print_decode</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#print-split">3.207. print_split</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#prompt-after">3.208. prompt_after</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#query-command">3.209. query_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#query-format">3.210. query_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#quit">3.211. quit</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#quote-regexp">3.212. quote_regexp</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#read-inc">3.213. read_inc</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#read-only">3.214. read_only</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#realname">3.215. realname</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#recall">3.216. recall</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#record">3.217. record</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reflow-text">3.218. reflow_text</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reflow-wrap">3.219. reflow_wrap</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reply-regexp">3.220. reply_regexp</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reply-self">3.221. reply_self</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reply-to">3.222. reply_to</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#resolve">3.223. resolve</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reverse-alias">3.224. reverse_alias</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reverse-name">3.225. reverse_name</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reverse-realname">3.226. reverse_realname</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#rfc2047-parameters">3.227. rfc2047_parameters</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#save-address">3.228. save_address</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#save-empty">3.229. save_empty</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#save-history">3.230. save_history</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#save-name">3.231. save_name</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#score">3.232. score</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#score-threshold-delete">3.233. score_threshold_delete</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#score-threshold-flag">3.234. score_threshold_flag</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#score-threshold-read">3.235. score_threshold_read</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#search-context">3.236. search_context</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#send-charset">3.237. send_charset</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sendmail">3.238. sendmail</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sendmail-wait">3.239. sendmail_wait</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#shell">3.240. shell</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sig-dashes">3.241. sig_dashes</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sig-on-top">3.242. sig_on_top</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#signature">3.243. signature</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#simple-search">3.244. simple_search</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sleep-time">3.245. sleep_time</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smart-wrap">3.246. smart_wrap</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smileys">3.247. smileys</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-ask-cert-label">3.248. smime_ask_cert_label</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-ca-location">3.249. smime_ca_location</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-certificates">3.250. smime_certificates</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-decrypt-command">3.251. smime_decrypt_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-decrypt-use-default-key">3.252. smime_decrypt_use_default_key</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-default-key">3.253. smime_default_key</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-encrypt-command">3.254. smime_encrypt_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-encrypt-with">3.255. smime_encrypt_with</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-get-cert-command">3.256. smime_get_cert_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-get-cert-email-command">3.257. smime_get_cert_email_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-get-signer-cert-command">3.258. smime_get_signer_cert_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-import-cert-command">3.259. smime_import_cert_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-is-default">3.260. smime_is_default</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-keys">3.261. smime_keys</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-pk7out-command">3.262. smime_pk7out_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-sign-command">3.263. smime_sign_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-sign-opaque-command">3.264. smime_sign_opaque_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-timeout">3.265. smime_timeout</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-verify-command">3.266. smime_verify_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-verify-opaque-command">3.267. smime_verify_opaque_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smtp-authenticators">3.268. smtp_authenticators</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smtp-pass">3.269. smtp_pass</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smtp-url">3.270. smtp_url</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sort">3.271. sort</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sort-alias">3.272. sort_alias</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sort-aux">3.273. sort_aux</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sort-browser">3.274. sort_browser</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sort-re">3.275. sort_re</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#spam-separator">3.276. spam_separator</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#spoolfile">3.277. spoolfile</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-ca-certificates-file">3.278. ssl_ca_certificates_file</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-client-cert">3.279. ssl_client_cert</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-force-tls">3.280. ssl_force_tls</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-min-dh-prime-bits">3.281. ssl_min_dh_prime_bits</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-starttls">3.282. ssl_starttls</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-use-sslv2">3.283. ssl_use_sslv2</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-use-sslv3">3.284. ssl_use_sslv3</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-use-tlsv1">3.285. ssl_use_tlsv1</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-use-tlsv1-1">3.286. ssl_use_tlsv1_1</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-use-tlsv1-2">3.287. ssl_use_tlsv1_2</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-usesystemcerts">3.288. ssl_usesystemcerts</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-verify-dates">3.289. ssl_verify_dates</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-verify-host">3.290. ssl_verify_host</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-ciphers">3.291. ssl_ciphers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#status-chars">3.292. status_chars</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#status-format">3.293. status_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#status-on-top">3.294. status_on_top</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#strict-threads">3.295. strict_threads</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#suspend">3.296. suspend</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#text-flowed">3.297. text_flowed</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#thorough-search">3.298. thorough_search</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#thread-received">3.299. thread_received</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#tilde">3.300. tilde</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#time-inc">3.301. time_inc</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#timeout">3.302. timeout</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#tmpdir">3.303. tmpdir</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#to-chars">3.304. to_chars</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ts-icon-format">3.305. ts_icon_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ts-enabled">3.306. ts_enabled</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ts-status-format">3.307. ts_status_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#tunnel">3.308. tunnel</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#uncollapse-jump">3.309. uncollapse_jump</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#use-8bitmime">3.310. use_8bitmime</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#use-domain">3.311. use_domain</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#use-envelope-from">3.312. use_envelope_from</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#use-from">3.313. use_from</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#use-idn">3.314. use_idn</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#use-ipv6">3.315. use_ipv6</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#user-agent">3.316. user_agent</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#visual">3.317. visual</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#wait-key">3.318. wait_key</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#weed">3.319. weed</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#wrap">3.320. wrap</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#wrap-headers">3.321. wrap_headers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#wrap-search">3.322. wrap_search</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#wrapmargin">3.323. wrapmargin</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#write-bcc">3.324. write_bcc</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#write-inc">3.325. write_inc</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#functions">4. Functions</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#generic-map">4.1. Generic Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#index-map">4.2. Index Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pager-map">4.3. Pager Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#alias-map">4.4. Alias Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#query-map">4.5. Query Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#attachment-map">4.6. Attachment Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#compose-map">4.7. Compose Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#postpone-map">4.8. Postpone Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#browser-map">4.9. Browser Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-map">4.10. Pgp Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-map">4.11. Smime Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mixmaster-map">4.12. Mixmaster Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#editor-map">4.13. Editor Menu</a></span></dt></dl></dd></dl></dd><dt><span class="chapter"><a href="#miscellany">10. Miscellany</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#acknowledgements">1. Acknowledgements</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#about">2. About This Document</a></span></dt></dl></dd></dl></div><div class="list-of-tables"><p><strong>List of Tables</strong></p><dl><dt>1.1. <a href="#tab-typo">Typographical conventions for special terms</a></dt><dt>2.1. <a href="#tab-keys-nav-line">Most common navigation keys in entry-based menus</a></dt><dt>2.2. <a href="#tab-keys-nav-page">Most common navigation keys in page-based menus</a></dt><dt>2.3. <a href="#tab-keys-editor">Most common line editor keys</a></dt><dt>2.4. <a href="#tab-key-index">Most common message index keys</a></dt><dt>2.5. <a href="#tab-msg-status-flags">Message status flags</a></dt><dt>2.6. <a href="#tab-msg-recip-flags">Message recipient flags</a></dt><dt>2.7. <a href="#tab-key-pager">Most common pager keys</a></dt><dt>2.8. <a href="#tab-ansi-esc">ANSI escape sequences</a></dt><dt>2.9. <a href="#tab-color">Color sequences</a></dt><dt>2.10. <a href="#tab-key-threads">Most common thread mode keys</a></dt><dt>2.11. <a href="#tab-key-send">Most common mail sending keys</a></dt><dt>2.12. <a href="#tab-func-compose">Most common compose menu keys</a></dt><dt>2.13. <a href="#tab-pgp-menuflags">PGP key menu flags</a></dt><dt>3.1. <a href="#tab-key-names">Symbolic key names</a></dt><dt>4.1. <a href="#posix-regex-char-classes">POSIX regular expression character classes</a></dt><dt>4.2. <a href="#regex-repeat">Regular expression repetition operators</a></dt><dt>4.3. <a href="#regex-gnu-ext">GNU regular expression extensions</a></dt><dt>4.4. <a href="#tab-patterns">Pattern modifiers</a></dt><dt>4.5. <a href="#tab-simplesearch-keywords">Simple search keywords</a></dt><dt>4.6. <a href="#tab-date-units">Date units</a></dt><dt>4.7. <a href="#tab-mailbox-shortcuts">Mailbox shortcuts</a></dt><dt>5.1. <a href="#supported-mime-types">Supported MIME types</a></dt><dt>9.1. <a href="#tab-commandline-options">Command line options</a></dt><dt>9.2. <a href="#tab-generic-bindings">Default Generic Menu Bindings</a></dt><dt>9.3. <a href="#tab-index-bindings">Default Index Menu Bindings</a></dt><dt>9.4. <a href="#tab-pager-bindings">Default Pager Menu Bindings</a></dt><dt>9.5. <a href="#tab-alias-bindings">Default Alias Menu Bindings</a></dt><dt>9.6. <a href="#tab-query-bindings">Default Query Menu Bindings</a></dt><dt>9.7. <a href="#tab-attachment-bindings">Default Attachment Menu Bindings</a></dt><dt>9.8. <a href="#tab-compose-bindings">Default Compose Menu Bindings</a></dt><dt>9.9. <a href="#tab-postpone-bindings">Default Postpone Menu Bindings</a></dt><dt>9.10. <a href="#tab-browser-bindings">Default Browser Menu Bindings</a></dt><dt>9.11. <a href="#tab-pgp-bindings">Default Pgp Menu Bindings</a></dt><dt>9.12. <a href="#tab-smime-bindings">Default Smime Menu Bindings</a></dt><dt>9.13. <a href="#tab-mixmaster-bindings">Default Mixmaster Menu Bindings</a></dt><dt>9.14. <a href="#tab-editor-bindings">Default Editor Menu Bindings</a></dt></dl></div><div class="list-of-examples"><p><strong>List of Examples</strong></p><dl><dt>3.1. <a href="#ex-rc-multiple-cmds">Multiple configuration commands per line</a></dt><dt>3.2. <a href="#ex-ec-comment">Commenting configuration files</a></dt><dt>3.3. <a href="#ex-rc-quote">Escaping quotes in configuration files</a></dt><dt>3.4. <a href="#ex-rc-split">Splitting long configuration commands over several lines</a></dt><dt>3.5. <a href="#ex-rc-backtick">Using external command's output in configuration files</a></dt><dt>3.6. <a href="#ex-rc-env">Using environment variables in configuration files</a></dt><dt>3.7. <a href="#ex-alias-external">Configuring external alias files</a></dt><dt>3.8. <a href="#ex-folder-sorting">Setting sort method based on mailbox name</a></dt><dt>3.9. <a href="#ex-header-weeding">Header weeding</a></dt><dt>3.10. <a href="#ex-hdr-order">Configuring header display order</a></dt><dt>3.11. <a href="#ex-my-hdr">Defining custom headers</a></dt><dt>3.12. <a href="#ex-save-hook-exando">Using %-expandos in <span class="command">save-hook</span></a></dt><dt>3.13. <a href="#ex-folder-hook-push">Embedding <span class="command">push</span> in <span class="command">folder-hook</span></a></dt><dt>3.14. <a href="#ex-spam">Configuring spam detection</a></dt><dt>3.15. <a href="#ex-myvar1">Using user-defined variables for config file readability</a></dt><dt>3.16. <a href="#ex-myvar2">Using user-defined variables for backing up other config option values</a></dt><dt>3.17. <a href="#ex-myvar3">Deferring user-defined variable expansion to runtime</a></dt><dt>3.18. <a href="#ex-myvar4">Type conversions using variables</a></dt><dt>3.19. <a href="#ex-fmtpipe">Using external filters in format strings</a></dt><dt>4.1. <a href="#ex-recips">Matching all addresses in address lists</a></dt><dt>4.2. <a href="#ex-pattern-bool">Using boolean operators in patterns</a></dt><dt>4.3. <a href="#ex-default-hook">Specifying a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">default</span>”</span> hook</a></dt><dt>5.1. <a href="#ex-mime-types"><code class="literal">mime.types</code></a></dt><dt>5.2. <a href="#ex-attach-count">Attachment counting</a></dt><dt>6.1. <a href="#ex-url">URLs</a></dt><dt>6.2. <a href="#ex-multiaccount">Managing multiple accounts</a></dt></dl></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="intro"></a>Chapter 1. Introduction</h1></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#homepage">1. Mutt Home Page</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#muttlists">2. Mailing Lists</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#distribution">3. Getting Mutt</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#irc">4. Mutt Online Resources</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#contrib">5. Contributing to Mutt</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#typo">6. Typographical Conventions</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#copyright">7. Copyright</a></span></dt></dl></div><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Mutt</strong></span> is a small but very powerful
text-based MIME mail client.  Mutt is highly configurable, and is well
suited to the mail power user with advanced features like key bindings,
keyboard macros, mail threading, regular expression searches and a
powerful pattern matching language for selecting groups of messages.
</p><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="homepage"></a>1. Mutt Home Page</h2></div></div></div><p>
The official homepage can be found at
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.mutt.org/" target="_top">http://www.mutt.org/</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="muttlists"></a>2. Mailing Lists</h2></div></div></div><p>
To subscribe to one of the following mailing lists, send a message with
the word <span class="emphasis"><em>subscribe</em></span> in the body to
<span class="emphasis"><em>list-name</em></span><code class="literal">-request@mutt.org</code>.
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:mutt-announce-request@mutt.org">mutt-announce-request@mutt.org</a>&gt;</code> — low traffic list for
announcements
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:mutt-users-request@mutt.org">mutt-users-request@mutt.org</a>&gt;</code> — help, bug reports and
feature requests
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:mutt-dev-request@mutt.org">mutt-dev-request@mutt.org</a>&gt;</code> — development mailing list
</p></li></ul></div><p>
All messages posted to <span class="emphasis"><em>mutt-announce</em></span> are
automatically forwarded to <span class="emphasis"><em>mutt-users</em></span>, so you do
not need to be subscribed to both lists.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="distribution"></a>3. Getting Mutt</h2></div></div></div><p>
Mutt releases can be downloaded from <a class="ulink" href="ftp://ftp.mutt.org/mutt/" target="_top">ftp://ftp.mutt.org/mutt/</a>.  For a
list of mirror sites, please refer to <a class="ulink" href="http://www.mutt.org/download.html" target="_top">http://www.mutt.org/download.html</a>.
</p><p>
For nightly tarballs and version control access, please refer to the
<a class="ulink" href="http://dev.mutt.org/" target="_top">Mutt development site</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="irc"></a>4. Mutt Online Resources</h2></div></div></div><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt><span class="term">Bug Tracking System</span></dt><dd><p>
The official Mutt bug tracking system can be found at
<a class="ulink" href="http://bugs.mutt.org/" target="_top">http://bugs.mutt.org/</a>
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">Wiki</span></dt><dd><p>
An (unofficial) wiki can be found
at <a class="ulink" href="http://wiki.mutt.org/" target="_top">http://wiki.mutt.org/</a>.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">IRC</span></dt><dd><p>
For the IRC user community, visit channel <span class="emphasis"><em>#mutt</em></span> on
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.freenode.net/" target="_top">irc.freenode.net</a>.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">USENET</span></dt><dd><p>
For USENET, see the newsgroup <a class="ulink" href="news:comp.mail.mutt" target="_top">comp.mail.mutt</a>.
</p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="contrib"></a>5. Contributing to Mutt</h2></div></div></div><p>
There are various ways to contribute to the Mutt project.
</p><p>
Especially for new users it may be helpful to meet other new and
experienced users to chat about Mutt, talk about problems and share
tricks.
</p><p>
Since translations of Mutt into other languages are highly appreciated,
the Mutt developers always look for skilled translators that help
improve and continue to maintain stale translations.
</p><p>
For contributing code patches for new features and bug fixes, please
refer to the developer pages at
<a class="ulink" href="http://dev.mutt.org/" target="_top">http://dev.mutt.org/</a> for more details.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="typo"></a>6. Typographical Conventions</h2></div></div></div><p>
This section lists typographical conventions followed throughout this
manual. See table <a class="xref" href="#tab-typo" title="Table 1.1. Typographical conventions for special terms">Table 1.1, “Typographical conventions for special terms”</a> for typographical
conventions for special terms.
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-typo"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 1.1. Typographical conventions for special terms</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Typographical conventions for special terms" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Item</th><th>Refers to...</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">printf(3)</code></td><td>UNIX manual pages, execute <code class="literal">man 3 printf</code></td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;PageUp&gt;</code></td><td>named keys</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;create-alias&gt;</code></td><td>named Mutt function</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">^G</code></td><td>Control+G key combination</td></tr><tr><td>$mail_check</td><td>Mutt configuration option</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">$HOME</code></td><td>environment variable</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
Examples are presented as:
</p><pre class="screen">
mutt -v
</pre><p>
Within command synopsis, curly brackets (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">{}</span>”</span>) denote a set
of options of which one is mandatory, square brackets
(<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">[]</span>”</span>) denote optional arguments, three dots
denote that the argument may be repeated arbitrary times.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="copyright"></a>7. Copyright</h2></div></div></div><p>
Mutt is Copyright © 1996-2009 Michael R. Elkins
<code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:me@mutt.org">me@mutt.org</a>&gt;</code> and others.
</p><p>
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
option) any later version.
</p><p>
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
General Public License for more details.
</p><p>
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
</p></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="gettingstarted"></a>Chapter 2. Getting Started</h1></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#core-concepts">1. Core Concepts</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#concept-screens-and-menus">2. Screens and Menus</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#intro-index">2.1. Index</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#intro-pager">2.2. Pager</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#intro-browser">2.3. File Browser</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#intro-help">2.4. Help</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#intro-compose">2.5. Compose Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#intro-alias">2.6. Alias Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#intro-attach">2.7. Attachment Menu</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#menus">3. Moving Around in Menus</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#editing">4. Editing Input Fields</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#editing-intro">4.1. Introduction</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#editing-history">4.2. History</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#reading">5. Reading Mail</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#index-menu">5.1. The Message Index</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pager-menu">5.2. The Pager</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#threads">5.3. Threaded Mode</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reading-misc">5.4. Miscellaneous Functions</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#sending">6. Sending Mail</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sending-intro">6.1. Introduction</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#edit-header">6.2. Editing the Message Header</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sending-crypto">6.3. Sending Cryptographically Signed/Encrypted Messages</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ff">6.4. Sending Format=Flowed Messages</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#forwarding-mail">7. Forwarding and Bouncing Mail</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#postponing-mail">8. Postponing Mail</a></span></dt></dl></div><p>
This section is intended as a brief overview of how to use Mutt.  There
are many other features which are described elsewhere in the manual.
There is even more information available in the Mutt FAQ and various web
pages. See the <a class="ulink" href="http://www.mutt.org/" target="_top">Mutt homepage</a>
for more details.
</p><p>
The keybindings described in this section are the defaults as
distributed.  Your local system administrator may have altered the
defaults for your site.  You can always type <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">?</span>”</span> in any
menu to display the current bindings.
</p><p>
The first thing you need to do is invoke Mutt, simply by typing
<code class="literal">mutt</code> at the command line.  There are various
command-line options, see either the Mutt man page or the <a class="link" href="#commandline" title="1. Command-Line Options">reference</a>.
</p><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="core-concepts"></a>1. Core Concepts</h2></div></div></div><p>
Mutt is a text-based application which interacts with users through
different menus which are mostly line-/entry-based or page-based. A
line-based menu is the so-called <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">index</span>”</span> menu (listing all
messages of the currently opened folder) or the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">alias</span>”</span>
menu (allowing you to select recipients from a list). Examples for
page-based menus are the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">pager</span>”</span> (showing one message at a
time) or the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">help</span>”</span> menu listing all available key
bindings.
</p><p>
The user interface consists of a context sensitive help line at the top,
the menu's contents followed by a context sensitive status line and
finally the command line. The command line is used to display
informational and error messages as well as for prompts and for entering
interactive commands.
</p><p>
Mutt is configured through variables which, if the user wants to
permanently use a non-default value, are written to configuration
files. Mutt supports a rich config file syntax to make even complex
configuration files readable and commentable.
</p><p>
Because Mutt allows for customizing almost all key bindings, there are
so-called <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">functions</span>”</span> which can be executed manually (using
the command line) or in macros. Macros allow the user to bind a sequence
of commands to a single key or a short key sequence instead of repeating
a sequence of actions over and over.
</p><p>
Many commands (such as saving or copying a message to another folder)
can be applied to a single message or a set of messages (so-called
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">tagged</span>”</span> messages). To help selecting messages, Mutt
provides a rich set of message patterns (such as recipients, sender,
body contents, date sent/received, etc.) which can be combined into
complex expressions using the boolean <span class="emphasis"><em>and</em></span> and
<span class="emphasis"><em>or</em></span> operations as well as negating. These patterns
can also be used to (for example) search for messages or to limit the
index to show only matching messages.
</p><p>
Mutt supports a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">hook</span>”</span> concept which allows the user to
execute arbitrary configuration commands and functions in certain
situations such as entering a folder, starting a new message or replying
to an existing one. These hooks can be used to highly customize Mutt's
behavior including managing multiple identities, customizing the
display for a folder or even implementing auto-archiving based on a
per-folder basis and much more.
</p><p>
Besides an interactive mode, Mutt can also be used as a command-line
tool only send messages. It also supports a
<code class="literal">mailx(1)</code>-compatible interface, see <a class="xref" href="#tab-commandline-options" title="Table 9.1. Command line options">Table 9.1, “Command line options”</a> for a complete list of command-line
options.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="concept-screens-and-menus"></a>2. Screens and Menus</h2></div></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="intro-index"></a>2.1. Index</h3></div></div></div><p>
The index is the screen that you usually see first when you start
Mutt. It gives an overview over your emails in the currently opened
mailbox. By default, this is your system mailbox.  The information you
see in the index is a list of emails, each with its number on the left,
its flags (new email, important email, email that has been forwarded or
replied to, tagged email, ...), the date when email was sent, its
sender, the email size, and the subject. Additionally, the index also
shows thread hierarchies: when you reply to an email, and the other
person replies back, you can see the other person's email in a
"sub-tree" below.  This is especially useful for personal email between
a group of people or when you've subscribed to mailing lists.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="intro-pager"></a>2.2. Pager</h3></div></div></div><p>
The pager is responsible for showing the email content. On the top of
the pager you have an overview over the most important email headers
like the sender, the recipient, the subject, and much more
information. How much information you actually see depends on your
configuration, which we'll describe below.
</p><p>
Below the headers, you see the email body which usually contains the
message. If the email contains any attachments, you will see more
information about them below the email body, or, if the attachments are
text files, you can view them directly in the pager.
</p><p>
To give the user a good overview, it is possible to configure Mutt to
show different things in the pager with different colors. Virtually
everything that can be described with a regular expression can be
colored, e.g. URLs, email addresses or smileys.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="intro-browser"></a>2.3. File Browser</h3></div></div></div><p>
The file browser is the interface to the local or remote file
system. When selecting a mailbox to open, the browser allows custom
sorting of items, limiting the items shown by a regular expression and a
freely adjustable format of what to display in which way. It also allows
for easy navigation through the file system when selecting file(s) to
attach to a message, select multiple files to attach and many more.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="intro-help"></a>2.4. Help</h3></div></div></div><p>
The help screen is meant to offer a quick help to the user. It lists the
current configuration of key bindings and their associated commands
including a short description, and currently unbound functions that
still need to be associated with a key binding (or alternatively, they
can be called via the Mutt command prompt).
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="intro-compose"></a>2.5. Compose Menu</h3></div></div></div><p>
The compose menu features a split screen containing the information
which really matter before actually sending a message by mail: who gets
the message as what (recipients and who gets what kind of
copy). Additionally, users may set security options like deciding
whether to sign, encrypt or sign and encrypt a message with/for what
keys. Also, it's used to attach messages, to re-edit any attachment
including the message itself.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="intro-alias"></a>2.6. Alias Menu</h3></div></div></div><p>
The alias menu is used to help users finding the recipients of
messages. For users who need to contact many people, there's no need to
remember addresses or names completely because it allows for searching,
too. The alias mechanism and thus the alias menu also features grouping
several addresses by a shorter nickname, the actual alias, so that users
don't have to select each single recipient manually.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="intro-attach"></a>2.7. Attachment Menu</h3></div></div></div><p>
As will be later discussed in detail, Mutt features a good and stable
MIME implementation, that is, it supports sending and receiving messages
of arbitrary MIME types. The attachment menu displays a message's
structure in detail: what content parts are attached to which parent
part (which gives a true tree structure), which type is of what type and
what size.  Single parts may saved, deleted or modified to offer great
and easy access to message's internals.
</p></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="menus"></a>3. Moving Around in Menus</h2></div></div></div><p>
The most important navigation keys common to line- or entry-based menus
are shown in <a class="xref" href="#tab-keys-nav-line" title="Table 2.1. Most common navigation keys in entry-based menus">Table 2.1, “Most common navigation keys in entry-based menus”</a> and in <a class="xref" href="#tab-keys-nav-page" title="Table 2.2. Most common navigation keys in page-based menus">Table 2.2, “Most common navigation keys in page-based menus”</a> for page-based menus.
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-keys-nav-line"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 2.1. Most common navigation keys in entry-based menus</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Most common navigation keys in entry-based menus" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Key</th><th>Function</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>j or &lt;Down&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-entry&gt;</code></td><td>move to the next entry</td></tr><tr><td>k or &lt;Up&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-entry&gt;</code></td><td>move to the previous entry</td></tr><tr><td>z or &lt;PageDn&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;page-down&gt;</code></td><td>go to the next page</td></tr><tr><td>Z or &lt;PageUp&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;page-up&gt;</code></td><td>go to the previous page</td></tr><tr><td>= or &lt;Home&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;first-entry&gt;</code></td><td>jump to the first entry</td></tr><tr><td>* or &lt;End&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;last-entry&gt;</code></td><td>jump to the last entry</td></tr><tr><td>q</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;quit&gt;</code></td><td>exit the current menu</td></tr><tr><td>?</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;help&gt;</code></td><td>list all keybindings for the current menu</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><div class="table"><a id="tab-keys-nav-page"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 2.2. Most common navigation keys in page-based menus</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Most common navigation keys in page-based menus" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Key</th><th>Function</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>J or &lt;Return&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-line&gt;</code></td><td>scroll down one line</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;Backspace&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-line&gt;</code></td><td>scroll up one line</td></tr><tr><td>K, &lt;Space&gt; or &lt;PageDn&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-page&gt;</code></td><td>move to the next page</td></tr><tr><td>- or &lt;PageUp&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-page&gt;</code></td><td>move the previous page</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;Home&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;top&gt;</code></td><td>move to the top</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;End&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;bottom&gt;</code></td><td>move to the bottom</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="editing"></a>4. Editing Input Fields</h2></div></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="editing-intro"></a>4.1. Introduction</h3></div></div></div><p>
Mutt has a built-in line editor for inputting text, e.g. email addresses
or filenames. The keys used to manipulate text input are very similar to
those of Emacs. See <a class="xref" href="#tab-keys-editor" title="Table 2.3. Most common line editor keys">Table 2.3, “Most common line editor keys”</a> for a full
reference of available functions, their default key bindings, and short
descriptions.
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-keys-editor"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 2.3. Most common line editor keys</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Most common line editor keys" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Key</th><th>Function</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>^A or &lt;Home&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;bol&gt;</code></td><td>move to the start of the line</td></tr><tr><td>^B or &lt;Left&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;backward-char&gt;</code></td><td>move back one char</td></tr><tr><td>Esc B</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;backward-word&gt;</code></td><td>move back one word</td></tr><tr><td>^D or &lt;Delete&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;delete-char&gt;</code></td><td>delete the char under the cursor</td></tr><tr><td>^E or &lt;End&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;eol&gt;</code></td><td>move to the end of the line</td></tr><tr><td>^F or &lt;Right&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;forward-char&gt;</code></td><td>move forward one char</td></tr><tr><td>Esc F</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;forward-word&gt;</code></td><td>move forward one word</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;Tab&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;complete&gt;</code></td><td>complete filename or alias</td></tr><tr><td>^T</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;complete-query&gt;</code></td><td>complete address with query</td></tr><tr><td>^K</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;kill-eol&gt;</code></td><td>delete to the end of the line</td></tr><tr><td>Esc d</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;kill-eow&gt;</code></td><td>delete to the end of the word</td></tr><tr><td>^W</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;kill-word&gt;</code></td><td>kill the word in front of the cursor</td></tr><tr><td>^U</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;kill-line&gt;</code></td><td>delete entire line</td></tr><tr><td>^V</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;quote-char&gt;</code></td><td>quote the next typed key</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;Up&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;history-up&gt;</code></td><td>recall previous string from history</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;Down&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;history-down&gt;</code></td><td>recall next string from history</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;BackSpace&gt;</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;backspace&gt;</code></td><td>kill the char in front of the cursor</td></tr><tr><td>Esc u</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;upcase-word&gt;</code></td><td>convert word to upper case</td></tr><tr><td>Esc l</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;downcase-word&gt;</code></td><td>convert word to lower case</td></tr><tr><td>Esc c</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;capitalize-word&gt;</code></td><td>capitalize the word</td></tr><tr><td>^G</td><td>n/a</td><td>abort</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;Return&gt;</td><td>n/a</td><td>finish editing</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
You can remap the <span class="emphasis"><em>editor</em></span> functions using the <a class="link" href="#bind" title="5. Changing the Default Key Bindings"><span class="command"><strong>bind</strong></span></a> command.  For example, to
make the &lt;Delete&gt; key delete the character in front of the cursor
rather than under, you could use:
</p><pre class="screen">
bind editor &lt;delete&gt; backspace
</pre></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="editing-history"></a>4.2. History</h3></div></div></div><p>
Mutt maintains a history for the built-in editor.  The number of items
is controlled by the <a class="link" href="#history" title="3.91. history">$history</a> variable
and can be made persistent using an external file specified using <a class="link" href="#history-file" title="3.92. history_file">$history_file</a>.  You may cycle through them
at an editor prompt by using the <code class="literal">&lt;history-up&gt;</code>
and/or <code class="literal">&lt;history-down&gt;</code> commands.  Mutt will
remember the currently entered text as you cycle through history, and
will wrap around to the initial entry line.
</p><p>
Mutt maintains several distinct history lists, one for each of the
following categories:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p><code class="literal">.muttrc</code> commands</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>addresses and aliases</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>shell commands</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>filenames</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>patterns</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>everything else</p></li></ul></div><p>
Mutt automatically filters out consecutively repeated items from the
history. It also mimics the behavior of some shells by ignoring items
starting with a space. The latter feature can be useful in macros to not
clobber the history's valuable entries with unwanted entries.
</p></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="reading"></a>5. Reading Mail</h2></div></div></div><p>
Similar to many other mail clients, there are two modes in which mail is
read in Mutt.  The first is a list of messages in the mailbox, which is
called the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">index</span>”</span> menu in Mutt.  The second mode is the
display of the message contents.  This is called the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">pager.</span>”</span>
</p><p>
The next few sections describe the functions provided in each of these
modes.
</p><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="index-menu"></a>5.1. The Message Index</h3></div></div></div><p>
Common keys used to navigate through and manage messages in the index
are shown in <a class="xref" href="#tab-key-index" title="Table 2.4. Most common message index keys">Table 2.4, “Most common message index keys”</a>. How messages are presented
in the index menu can be customized using the <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a> variable.
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-key-index"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 2.4. Most common message index keys</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Most common message index keys" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Key</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>c</td><td>change to a different mailbox</td></tr><tr><td>Esc c</td><td>change to a folder in read-only mode</td></tr><tr><td>C</td><td>copy the current message to another mailbox</td></tr><tr><td>Esc C</td><td>decode a message and copy it to a folder</td></tr><tr><td>Esc s</td><td>decode a message and save it to a folder</td></tr><tr><td>D</td><td>delete messages matching a pattern</td></tr><tr><td>d</td><td>delete the current message</td></tr><tr><td>F</td><td>mark as important</td></tr><tr><td>l</td><td>show messages matching a pattern</td></tr><tr><td>N</td><td>mark message as new</td></tr><tr><td>o</td><td>change the current sort method</td></tr><tr><td>O</td><td>reverse sort the mailbox</td></tr><tr><td>q</td><td>save changes and exit</td></tr><tr><td>s</td><td>save-message</td></tr><tr><td>T</td><td>tag messages matching a pattern</td></tr><tr><td>t</td><td>toggle the tag on a message</td></tr><tr><td>Esc t</td><td>toggle tag on entire message thread</td></tr><tr><td>U</td><td>undelete messages matching a pattern</td></tr><tr><td>u</td><td>undelete-message</td></tr><tr><td>v</td><td>view-attachments</td></tr><tr><td>x</td><td>abort changes and exit</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;Return&gt;</td><td>display-message</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;Tab&gt;</td><td>jump to the next new or unread message</td></tr><tr><td>@</td><td>show the author's full e-mail address</td></tr><tr><td>$</td><td>save changes to mailbox</td></tr><tr><td>/</td><td>search</td></tr><tr><td>Esc /</td><td>search-reverse</td></tr><tr><td>^L</td><td>clear and redraw the screen</td></tr><tr><td>^T</td><td>untag messages matching a pattern</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
In addition to who sent the message and the subject, a short summary of
the disposition of each message is printed beside the message number.
Zero or more of the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">flags</span>”</span> in <a class="xref" href="#tab-msg-status-flags" title="Table 2.5. Message status flags">Table 2.5, “Message status flags”</a> may appear, some of which can be turned
on or off using these functions: <code class="literal">&lt;set-flag&gt;</code> and
<code class="literal">&lt;clear-flag&gt;</code> bound by default to
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">w</span>”</span> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">W</span>”</span> respectively.
</p><p>
Furthermore, the flags in <a class="xref" href="#tab-msg-recip-flags" title="Table 2.6. Message recipient flags">Table 2.6, “Message recipient flags”</a> reflect
who the message is addressed to. They can be customized with the <a class="link" href="#to-chars" title="3.304. to_chars">$to_chars</a> variable.
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-msg-status-flags"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 2.5. Message status flags</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Message status flags" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Flag</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>D</td><td>message is deleted (is marked for deletion)</td></tr><tr><td>d</td><td>message has attachments marked for deletion</td></tr><tr><td>K</td><td>contains a PGP public key</td></tr><tr><td>N</td><td>message is new</td></tr><tr><td>O</td><td>message is old</td></tr><tr><td>P</td><td>message is PGP encrypted</td></tr><tr><td>r</td><td>message has been replied to</td></tr><tr><td>S</td><td>message is signed, and the signature is successfully verified</td></tr><tr><td>s</td><td>message is signed</td></tr><tr><td>!</td><td>message is flagged</td></tr><tr><td>*</td><td>message is tagged</td></tr><tr><td>n</td><td>thread contains new messages (only if collapsed)</td></tr><tr><td>o</td><td>thread contains old messages (only if collapsed)</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><div class="table"><a id="tab-msg-recip-flags"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 2.6. Message recipient flags</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Message recipient flags" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Flag</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>+</td><td>message is to you and you only</td></tr><tr><td>T</td><td>message is to you, but also to or CC'ed to others</td></tr><tr><td>C</td><td>message is CC'ed to you</td></tr><tr><td>F</td><td>message is from you</td></tr><tr><td>L</td><td>message is sent to a subscribed mailing list</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pager-menu"></a>5.2. The Pager</h3></div></div></div><p>
By default, Mutt uses its built-in pager to display the contents of
messages (an external pager such as <code class="literal">less(1)</code> can be
configured, see <a class="link" href="#pager" title="3.152. pager">$pager</a> variable).  The
pager is very similar to the Unix program <code class="literal">less(1)</code>
though not nearly as featureful.
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-key-pager"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 2.7. Most common pager keys</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Most common pager keys" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Key</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>&lt;Return&gt;</td><td>go down one line</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;Space&gt;</td><td>display the next page (or next message if at the end of a message)</td></tr><tr><td>-</td><td>go back to the previous page</td></tr><tr><td>n</td><td>search for next match</td></tr><tr><td>S</td><td>skip beyond quoted text</td></tr><tr><td>T</td><td>toggle display of quoted text</td></tr><tr><td>?</td><td>show keybindings</td></tr><tr><td>/</td><td>regular expression search</td></tr><tr><td>Esc /</td><td>backward regular expression search</td></tr><tr><td>\</td><td>toggle highlighting of search matches</td></tr><tr><td>^</td><td>jump to the top of the message</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
In addition to key bindings in <a class="xref" href="#tab-key-pager" title="Table 2.7. Most common pager keys">Table 2.7, “Most common pager keys”</a>, many of
the functions from the index menu are also available in the pager, such
as <code class="literal">&lt;delete-message&gt;</code> or
<code class="literal">&lt;copy-message&gt;</code> (this is one advantage over
using an external pager to view messages).
</p><p>
Also, the internal pager supports a couple other advanced features. For
one, it will accept and translate the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">standard</span>”</span> nroff
sequences for bold and underline. These sequences are a series of either
the letter, backspace (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">^H</span>”</span>), the letter again for bold or
the letter, backspace, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">_</span>”</span> for denoting underline. Mutt
will attempt to display these in bold and underline respectively if your
terminal supports them. If not, you can use the bold and underline <a class="link" href="#color" title="9. Using Color and Mono Video Attributes">color</a> objects to specify a
<span class="command"><strong>color</strong></span> or mono attribute for them.
</p><p>
Additionally, the internal pager supports the ANSI escape sequences for
character attributes.  Mutt translates them into the correct color and
character settings.  The sequences Mutt supports are:
</p><pre class="screen">
\e[<span class="emphasis"><em>Ps</em></span>;<span class="emphasis"><em>Ps</em></span>;..<span class="emphasis"><em>Ps</em></span>;m
</pre><p>
where <span class="emphasis"><em>Ps</em></span> can be one of the codes shown in <a class="xref" href="#tab-ansi-esc" title="Table 2.8. ANSI escape sequences">Table 2.8, “ANSI escape sequences”</a>.
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-ansi-esc"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 2.8. ANSI escape sequences</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="ANSI escape sequences" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Escape code</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>0</td><td>All attributes off</td></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>Bold on</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>Underline on</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>Blink on</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>Reverse video on</td></tr><tr><td>3<span class="emphasis"><em>&lt;color&gt;</em></span></td><td>Foreground color is <span class="emphasis"><em>&lt;color&gt;</em></span> (see <a class="xref" href="#tab-color" title="Table 2.9. Color sequences">Table 2.9, “Color sequences”</a>)</td></tr><tr><td>4<span class="emphasis"><em>&lt;color&gt;</em></span></td><td>Background color is <span class="emphasis"><em>&lt;color&gt;</em></span> (see <a class="xref" href="#tab-color" title="Table 2.9. Color sequences">Table 2.9, “Color sequences”</a>)</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><div class="table"><a id="tab-color"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 2.9. Color sequences</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Color sequences" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Color code</th><th>Color</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>0</td><td>Black</td></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>Red</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>Green</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>Yellow</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>Blue</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>Magenta</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>Cyan</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>White</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
Mutt uses these attributes for handling <code class="literal">text/enriched</code>
messages, and they can also be used by an external <a class="link" href="#auto-view" title="4. MIME Autoview">autoview</a> script for highlighting purposes.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
If you change the colors for your display, for example by changing the
color associated with color2 for your xterm, then that color will be
used instead of green.
</p></div><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
Note that the search commands in the pager take regular expressions,
which are not quite the same as the more complex <a class="link" href="#patterns" title="3. Patterns: Searching, Limiting and Tagging">patterns</a> used by the search command in the
index. This is because patterns are used to select messages by criteria
whereas the pager already displays a selected message.
</p></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="threads"></a>5.3. Threaded Mode</h3></div></div></div><p>
So-called <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">threads</span>”</span> provide a hierarchy of messages where
replies are linked to their parent message(s). This organizational form
is extremely useful in mailing lists where different parts of the
discussion diverge. Mutt displays threads as a tree structure.
</p><p>
In Mutt, when a mailbox is <a class="link" href="#sort" title="3.271. sort">sorted</a>
by <span class="emphasis"><em>threads</em></span>, there are a few additional functions
available in the <span class="emphasis"><em>index</em></span>
and <span class="emphasis"><em>pager</em></span> modes as shown in
<a class="xref" href="#tab-key-threads" title="Table 2.10. Most common thread mode keys">Table 2.10, “Most common thread mode keys”</a>.
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-key-threads"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 2.10. Most common thread mode keys</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Most common thread mode keys" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Key</th><th>Function</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>^D</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;delete-thread&gt;</code></td><td>delete all messages in the current thread</td></tr><tr><td>^U</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;undelete-thread&gt;</code></td><td>undelete all messages in the current thread</td></tr><tr><td>^N</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-thread&gt;</code></td><td>jump to the start of the next thread</td></tr><tr><td>^P</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-thread&gt;</code></td><td>jump to the start of the previous thread</td></tr><tr><td>^R</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;read-thread&gt;</code></td><td>mark the current thread as read</td></tr><tr><td>Esc d</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;delete-subthread&gt;</code></td><td>delete all messages in the current subthread</td></tr><tr><td>Esc u</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;undelete-subthread&gt;</code></td><td>undelete all messages in the current subthread</td></tr><tr><td>Esc n</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-subthread&gt;</code></td><td>jump to the start of the next subthread</td></tr><tr><td>Esc p</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-subthread&gt;</code></td><td>jump to the start of the previous subthread</td></tr><tr><td>Esc r</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;read-subthread&gt;</code></td><td>mark the current subthread as read</td></tr><tr><td>Esc t</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;tag-thread&gt;</code></td><td>toggle the tag on the current thread</td></tr><tr><td>Esc v</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;collapse-thread&gt;</code></td><td>toggle collapse for the current thread</td></tr><tr><td>Esc V</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;collapse-all&gt;</code></td><td>toggle collapse for all threads</td></tr><tr><td>P</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;parent-message&gt;</code></td><td>jump to parent message in thread</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
Collapsing a thread displays only the first message in the thread and
hides the others. This is useful when threads contain so many messages
that you can only see a handful of threads on the screen. See %M in
<a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a>.  For example, you
could use <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">%?M?(#%03M)&amp;(%4l)?</span>”</span> in <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a> to optionally display the
number of hidden messages if the thread is collapsed. The
<code class="literal">%?&lt;char&gt;?&lt;if-part&gt;&amp;&lt;else-part&gt;?</code>
syntax is explained in detail in <a class="link" href="#formatstrings-conditionals" title="29.2. Conditionals">format string conditionals</a>.
</p><p>
Technically, every reply should contain a list of its parent messages in
the thread tree, but not all do. In these cases, Mutt groups them by
subject which can be controlled using the <a class="link" href="#strict-threads" title="3.295. strict_threads">$strict_threads</a> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="reading-misc"></a>5.4. Miscellaneous Functions</h3></div></div></div><p>
In addition, the <span class="emphasis"><em>index</em></span> and
<span class="emphasis"><em>pager</em></span> menus have these interesting functions:
</p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt><span class="term">
<code class="literal">&lt;create-alias&gt;</code><a id="create-alias"></a>
(default: a)
</span></dt><dd><p>
Creates a new alias based upon the current message (or prompts for a new
one).  Once editing is complete, an <a class="link" href="#alias" title="4. Defining/Using Aliases"><span class="command"><strong>alias</strong></span></a> command is added to the
file specified by the <a class="link" href="#alias-file" title="3.3. alias_file">$alias_file</a>
variable for future use
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
Mutt does not read the <a class="link" href="#alias-file" title="3.3. alias_file">$alias_file</a>
upon startup so you must explicitly <a class="link" href="#source" title="27. Reading Initialization Commands From Another File"><span class="command"><strong>source</strong></span></a> the file.
</p></div></dd><dt><span class="term">
<code class="literal">&lt;check-traditional-pgp&gt;</code><a id="check-traditional-pgp"></a> (default: Esc P)
</span></dt><dd><p>
This function will search the current message for content signed or
encrypted with PGP the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">traditional</span>”</span> way, that is, without
proper MIME tagging.  Technically, this function will temporarily change
the MIME content types of the body parts containing PGP data; this is
similar to the <a class="link" href="#edit-type"><code class="literal">&lt;edit-type&gt;</code></a>
function's effect.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
<code class="literal">&lt;edit&gt;</code><a id="edit"></a> (default: e)
</span></dt><dd><p>
This command (available in the index and pager) allows you to edit the
raw current message as it's present in the mail folder.  After you have
finished editing, the changed message will be appended to the current
folder, and the original message will be marked for deletion; if the
message is unchanged it won't be replaced.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
<code class="literal">&lt;edit-type&gt;</code><a id="edit-type"></a> (default:
^E on the attachment menu, and in the pager and index menus; ^T on the
compose menu)
</span></dt><dd><p>
This command is used to temporarily edit an attachment's content type to
fix, for instance, bogus character set parameters.  When invoked from
the index or from the pager, you'll have the opportunity to edit the
top-level attachment's content type.  On the <a class="link" href="#attach-menu" title="1.3. The Attachment Menu">attachment menu</a>, you can change any
attachment's content type. These changes are not persistent, and get
lost upon changing folders.
</p><p>
Note that this command is also available on the <a class="link" href="#compose-menu" title="1.4. The Compose Menu">compose menu</a>.  There, it's used to
fine-tune the properties of attachments you are going to send.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
<code class="literal">&lt;enter-command&gt;</code><a id="enter-command"></a>
(default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">:</span>”</span>)
</span></dt><dd><p>
This command is used to execute any command you would normally put in a
configuration file.  A common use is to check the settings of variables,
or in conjunction with <a class="link" href="#macro" title="8. Keyboard Macros">macros</a> to change
settings on the fly.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
<code class="literal">&lt;extract-keys&gt;</code><a id="extract-keys"></a>
(default: ^K)
</span></dt><dd><p>
This command extracts PGP public keys from the current or tagged
message(s) and adds them to your PGP public key ring.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
<code class="literal">&lt;forget-passphrase&gt;</code><a id="forget-passphrase"></a> (default: ^F)
</span></dt><dd><p>
This command wipes the passphrase(s) from memory. It is useful, if you
misspelled the passphrase.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
<code class="literal">&lt;list-reply&gt;</code><a id="list-reply"></a> (default:
L)
</span></dt><dd><p>
Reply to the current or tagged message(s) by extracting any addresses
which match the regular expressions given by the <a class="link" href="#lists" title="12. Mailing Lists"><span class="command"><strong>lists</strong></span> or
<span class="command"><strong>subscribe</strong></span></a> commands, but also honor any
<code class="literal">Mail-Followup-To</code> header(s) if the <a class="link" href="#honor-followup-to" title="3.94. honor_followup_to">$honor_followup_to</a> configuration
variable is set.  In addition, the <code class="literal">List-Post</code> header field is
examined for <code class="literal">mailto:</code> URLs specifying a mailing list address.
Using this when replying to messages posted to mailing lists helps avoid
duplicate copies being sent to the author of the message you are replying to.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
<code class="literal">&lt;pipe-message&gt;</code><a id="pipe-message"></a>
(default: |)
</span></dt><dd><p>
Asks for an external Unix command and pipes the current or tagged
message(s) to it.  The variables <a class="link" href="#pipe-decode" title="3.186. pipe_decode">$pipe_decode</a>, <a class="link" href="#pipe-split" title="3.188. pipe_split">$pipe_split</a>, <a class="link" href="#pipe-sep" title="3.187. pipe_sep">$pipe_sep</a> and <a class="link" href="#wait-key" title="3.318. wait_key">$wait_key</a> control the exact behavior of this
function.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
<code class="literal">&lt;resend-message&gt;</code><a id="resend-message"></a>
(default: Esc e)
</span></dt><dd><p>
Mutt takes the current message as a template for a new message.  This
function is best described as "recall from arbitrary folders".  It can
conveniently be used to forward MIME messages while preserving the
original mail structure. Note that the amount of headers included here
depends on the value of the <a class="link" href="#weed" title="3.319. weed">$weed</a> variable.
</p><p>
This function is also available from the attachment menu. You can use
this to easily resend a message which was included with a bounce message
as a <code class="literal">message/rfc822</code> body part.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
<code class="literal">&lt;shell-escape&gt;</code><a id="shell-escape"></a>
(default: !)
</span></dt><dd><p>
Asks for an external Unix command and executes it.  The <a class="link" href="#wait-key" title="3.318. wait_key">$wait_key</a> can be used to control whether Mutt
will wait for a key to be pressed when the command returns (presumably
to let the user read the output of the command), based on the return
status of the named command. If no command is given, an interactive
shell is executed.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
<code class="literal">&lt;toggle-quoted&gt;</code><a id="toggle-quoted"></a>
(default: T)
</span></dt><dd><p>
The pager uses the <a class="link" href="#quote-regexp" title="3.212. quote_regexp">$quote_regexp</a>
variable to detect quoted text when displaying the body of the message.
This function toggles the display of the quoted material in the message.
It is particularly useful when being interested in just the response and
there is a large amount of quoted text in the way.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
<code class="literal">&lt;skip-quoted&gt;</code><a id="skip-quoted"></a>
(default: S)
</span></dt><dd><p>
This function will go to the next line of non-quoted text which comes
after a line of quoted text in the internal pager.
</p></dd></dl></div></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="sending"></a>6. Sending Mail</h2></div></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="sending-intro"></a>6.1. Introduction</h3></div></div></div><p>
The bindings shown in <a class="xref" href="#tab-key-send" title="Table 2.11. Most common mail sending keys">Table 2.11, “Most common mail sending keys”</a> are available in
the <span class="emphasis"><em>index</em></span> and <span class="emphasis"><em>pager</em></span> to start a
new message.
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-key-send"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 2.11. Most common mail sending keys</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Most common mail sending keys" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Key</th><th>Function</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>m</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;compose&gt;</code></td><td>compose a new message</td></tr><tr><td>r</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;reply&gt;</code></td><td>reply to sender</td></tr><tr><td>g</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;group-reply&gt;</code></td><td>reply to all recipients</td></tr><tr><td>L</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;list-reply&gt;</code></td><td>reply to mailing list address</td></tr><tr><td>f</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;forward&gt;</code></td><td>forward message</td></tr><tr><td>b</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;bounce&gt;</code></td><td>bounce (remail) message</td></tr><tr><td>Esc k</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;mail-key&gt;</code></td><td>mail a PGP public key to someone</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>Bouncing</em></span> a message sends the message as-is to the
recipient you specify.  <span class="emphasis"><em>Forwarding</em></span> a message allows
you to add comments or modify the message you are forwarding.  These
items are discussed in greater detail in the next section <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#forwarding-mail" title="7. Forwarding and Bouncing Mail">Forwarding and Bouncing Mail</a>.</span>”</span>
</p><p>
Mutt will then enter the <span class="emphasis"><em>compose</em></span> menu and prompt
you for the recipients to place on the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">To:</span>”</span> header field
when you hit <code class="literal">m</code> to start a new message. Next, it will
ask you for the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Subject:</span>”</span> field for the message, providing
a default if you are replying to or forwarding a message. You again have
the chance to adjust recipients, subject, and security settings right
before actually sending the message. See also <a class="link" href="#askcc" title="3.10. askcc">$askcc</a>, <a class="link" href="#askbcc" title="3.9. askbcc">$askbcc</a>,
<a class="link" href="#autoedit" title="3.18. autoedit">$autoedit</a>, <a class="link" href="#bounce" title="3.21. bounce">$bounce</a>, <a class="link" href="#fast-reply" title="3.65. fast_reply">$fast_reply</a>, and <a class="link" href="#include" title="3.113. include">$include</a> for changing how and if Mutt asks
these questions.
</p><p>
When replying, Mutt fills these fields with proper values depending on
the reply type.  The types of replying supported are:
</p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt><span class="term">Simple reply</span></dt><dd><p>
Reply to the author directly.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">Group reply</span></dt><dd><p>
Reply to the author as well to all recipients except you; this consults
<a class="link" href="#alternates" title="11. Alternative Addresses"><span class="command"><strong>alternates</strong></span></a>.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">List reply</span></dt><dd><p>
Reply to all mailing list addresses found, either specified via
configuration or auto-detected.  See <a class="xref" href="#lists" title="12. Mailing Lists">Section 12, “Mailing Lists”</a> for
details.
</p></dd></dl></div><p>
After getting recipients for new messages, forwards or replies, Mutt
will then automatically start your <a class="link" href="#editor" title="3.60. editor">$editor</a>
on the message body. If the <a class="link" href="#edit-headers" title="3.59. edit_headers">$edit_headers</a> variable is set, the headers
will be at the top of the message in your editor; the message body
should start on a new line after the existing blank line at the end of
headers.  Any messages you are replying to will be added in sort order
to the message, with appropriate
<a class="link" href="#attribution" title="3.16. attribution">$attribution</a>, <a class="link" href="#indent-string" title="3.115. indent_string">$indent_string</a> and <a class="link" href="#post-indent-string" title="3.198. post_indent_string">$post_indent_string</a>.  When
forwarding a message, if the <a class="link" href="#mime-forward" title="3.144. mime_forward">$mime_forward</a> variable is unset, a copy of
the forwarded message will be included.  If you have specified a <a class="link" href="#signature" title="3.243. signature">$signature</a>, it will be appended to the
message.
</p><p>
Once you have finished editing the body of your mail message, you are
returned to the <span class="emphasis"><em>compose</em></span> menu providing the
functions shown in <a class="xref" href="#tab-func-compose" title="Table 2.12. Most common compose menu keys">Table 2.12, “Most common compose menu keys”</a> to modify, send or
postpone the message.
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-func-compose"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 2.12. Most common compose menu keys</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Most common compose menu keys" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Key</th><th>Function</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;attach-file&gt;</code></td><td>attach a file</td></tr><tr><td>A</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;attach-message&gt;</code></td><td>attach message(s) to the message</td></tr><tr><td>Esc k</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;attach-key&gt;</code></td><td>attach a PGP public key</td></tr><tr><td>d</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-description&gt;</code></td><td>edit description on attachment</td></tr><tr><td>D</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;detach-file&gt;</code></td><td>detach a file</td></tr><tr><td>t</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-to&gt;</code></td><td>edit the To field</td></tr><tr><td>Esc f</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-from&gt;</code></td><td>edit the From field</td></tr><tr><td>r</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-reply-to&gt;</code></td><td>edit the Reply-To field</td></tr><tr><td>c</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-cc&gt;</code></td><td>edit the Cc field</td></tr><tr><td>b</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-bcc&gt;</code></td><td>edit the Bcc field</td></tr><tr><td>y</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;send-message&gt;</code></td><td>send the message</td></tr><tr><td>s</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-subject&gt;</code></td><td>edit the Subject</td></tr><tr><td>S</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;smime-menu&gt;</code></td><td>select S/MIME options</td></tr><tr><td>f</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-fcc&gt;</code></td><td>specify an <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Fcc</span>”</span> mailbox</td></tr><tr><td>p</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;pgp-menu&gt;</code></td><td>select PGP options</td></tr><tr><td>P</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;postpone-message&gt;</code></td><td>postpone this message until later</td></tr><tr><td>q</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;quit&gt;</code></td><td>quit (abort) sending the message</td></tr><tr><td>w</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;write-fcc&gt;</code></td><td>write the message to a folder</td></tr><tr><td>i</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;ispell&gt;</code></td><td>check spelling (if available on your system)</td></tr><tr><td>^F</td><td><code class="literal">&lt;forget-passphrase&gt;</code></td><td>wipe passphrase(s) from memory</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
The compose menu is also used to edit the attachments for a message
which can be either files or other messages. The
<code class="literal">&lt;attach-message&gt;</code> function to will prompt you
for a folder to attach messages from. You can now tag messages in that
folder and they will be attached to the message you are sending.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
Note that certain operations like composing a new mail, replying,
forwarding, etc. are not permitted when you are in that folder. The %r
in <a class="link" href="#status-format" title="3.293. status_format">$status_format</a> will change to a
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">A</span>”</span> to indicate that you are in attach-message mode.
</p></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="edit-header"></a>6.2. Editing the Message Header</h3></div></div></div><p>
When editing the header because of <a class="link" href="#edit-headers" title="3.59. edit_headers">$edit_headers</a> being set, there are a
several pseudo headers available which will not be included in sent
messages but trigger special Mutt behavior.
</p><div class="sect3"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="fcc-header"></a>6.2.1. Fcc: Pseudo Header</h4></div></div></div><p>
If you specify
</p><p>
<code class="literal">Fcc:</code> <span class="emphasis"><em>filename</em></span>
</p><p>
as a header, Mutt will pick up <span class="emphasis"><em>filename</em></span> just as if
you had used the <code class="literal">&lt;edit-fcc&gt;</code> function in the
<span class="emphasis"><em>compose</em></span> menu.  It can later be changed from the
compose menu.
</p></div><div class="sect3"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="attach-header"></a>6.2.2. Attach: Pseudo Header</h4></div></div></div><p>
You can also attach files to your message by specifying
</p><p>
<code class="literal">Attach:</code> <span class="emphasis"><em>filename</em></span>
[ <span class="emphasis"><em>description</em></span> ]
</p><p>
where <span class="emphasis"><em>filename</em></span> is the file to attach and
<span class="emphasis"><em>description</em></span> is an optional string to use as the
description of the attached file. Spaces in filenames have to be escaped
using backslash (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">\</span>”</span>).  The file can be removed as well as
more added from the compose menu.
</p></div><div class="sect3"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="pgp-header"></a>6.2.3. Pgp: Pseudo Header</h4></div></div></div><p>
If you want to use PGP, you can specify
</p><p>
<code class="literal">Pgp:</code> [ <code class="literal">E</code> | <code class="literal">S</code> | <code class="literal">S</code><span class="emphasis"><em>&lt;id&gt;</em></span> ]

</p><p>
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">E</span>”</span> selects encryption, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">S</span>”</span> selects signing
and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">S&lt;id&gt;</span>”</span> selects signing with the given key,
setting <a class="link" href="#pgp-sign-as" title="3.178. pgp_sign_as">$pgp_sign_as</a> permanently. The
selection can later be changed in the compose menu.
</p></div><div class="sect3"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="in-reply-to-header"></a>6.2.4. In-Reply-To: Header</h4></div></div></div><p>
When replying to messages, the <span class="emphasis"><em>In-Reply-To:</em></span> header
contains the Message-Id of the message(s) you reply to. If you remove or
modify its value, Mutt will not generate a
<span class="emphasis"><em>References:</em></span> field, which allows you to create a new
message thread, for example to create a new message to a mailing list
without having to enter the mailing list's address.
</p><p>
If you intend to start a new thread by replying, please make really sure
you remove the <span class="emphasis"><em>In-Reply-To:</em></span> header in your
editor. Otherwise, though you'll produce a technically valid reply, some
netiquette guardians will be annoyed by this so-called <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">thread
hijacking</span>”</span>.
</p></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="sending-crypto"></a>6.3. Sending Cryptographically Signed/Encrypted Messages</h3></div></div></div><p>
If you have told Mutt to PGP or S/MIME encrypt a message, it will guide
you through a key selection process when you try to send the message.
Mutt will not ask you any questions about keys which have a certified
user ID matching one of the message recipients' mail addresses.
However, there may be situations in which there are several keys, weakly
certified user ID fields, or where no matching keys can be found.
</p><p>
In these cases, you are dropped into a menu with a list of keys from
which you can select one.  When you quit this menu, or Mutt can't find
any matching keys, you are prompted for a user ID.  You can, as usually,
abort this prompt using <code class="literal">^G</code>.  When you do so, Mutt
will return to the compose screen.
</p><p>
Once you have successfully finished the key selection, the message will
be encrypted using the selected public keys when sent out.
</p><p>
Most fields of the entries in the key selection menu (see also <a class="link" href="#pgp-entry-format" title="3.165. pgp_entry_format">$pgp_entry_format</a>) have obvious
meanings.  But some explanations on the capabilities, flags, and
validity fields are in order.
</p><p>
The flags sequence (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">%f</span>”</span>) will expand to one of the flags
in <a class="xref" href="#tab-pgp-menuflags" title="Table 2.13. PGP key menu flags">Table 2.13, “PGP key menu flags”</a>.
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-pgp-menuflags"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 2.13. PGP key menu flags</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="PGP key menu flags" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Flag</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>R</td><td>The key has been revoked and can't be used.</td></tr><tr><td>X</td><td>The key is expired and can't be used.</td></tr><tr><td>d</td><td>You have marked the key as disabled.</td></tr><tr><td>c</td><td>There are unknown critical self-signature packets.</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
The capabilities field (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">%c</span>”</span>) expands to a two-character
sequence representing a key's capabilities.  The first character gives
the key's encryption capabilities: A minus sign (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-</span>”</span>) means
that the key cannot be used for encryption.  A dot (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">.</span>”</span>)
means that it's marked as a signature key in one of the user IDs, but
may also be used for encryption.  The letter <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">e</span>”</span> indicates
that this key can be used for encryption.
</p><p>
The second character indicates the key's signing capabilities.  Once
again, a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-</span>”</span> implies <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">not for signing</span>”</span>,
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">.</span>”</span> implies that the key is marked as an encryption key in
one of the user-ids, and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">s</span>”</span> denotes a key which can be
used for signing.
</p><p>
Finally, the validity field (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">%t</span>”</span>) indicates how
well-certified a user-id is.  A question mark (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">?</span>”</span>)
indicates undefined validity, a minus character (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-</span>”</span>) marks
an untrusted association, a space character means a partially trusted
association, and a plus character (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">+</span>”</span>) indicates complete
validity.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ff"></a>6.4. Sending Format=Flowed Messages</h3></div></div></div><div class="sect3"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="ff-concept"></a>6.4.1. Concept</h4></div></div></div><p>
<code class="literal">format=flowed</code>-style messages (or
<code class="literal">f=f</code> for short) are <code class="literal">text/plain</code>
messages that consist of paragraphs which a receiver's mail client may
reformat to its own needs which mostly means to customize line lengths
regardless of what the sender sent. Technically this is achieved by
letting lines of a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">flowable</span>”</span> paragraph end in spaces
except for the last line.
</p><p>
While for text-mode clients like Mutt it's the best way to assume only a
standard 80x25 character cell terminal, it may be desired to let the
receiver decide completely how to view a message.
</p></div><div class="sect3"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="ff-support"></a>6.4.2. Mutt Support</h4></div></div></div><p>
Mutt only supports setting the required <code class="literal">format=flowed</code>
MIME parameter on outgoing messages if the <a class="link" href="#text-flowed" title="3.297. text_flowed">$text_flowed</a> variable is set, specifically
it does not add the trailing spaces.
</p><p>
After editing the initial message text and before entering the compose
menu, Mutt properly space-stuffs the message.
<span class="emphasis"><em>Space-stuffing</em></span> is required by RfC3676 defining
<code class="literal">format=flowed</code> and means to prepend a space to:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>all lines starting with a space</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>lines starting with the word
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">From</code></span>”</span> followed by
space</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>all lines starting with
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">&gt;</code></span>”</span> which is not intended to be a
quote character</p></li></ul></div><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
Mutt only supports space-stuffing for the first two types of lines but
not for the third: It is impossible to safely detect whether a leading
<code class="literal">&gt;</code> character starts a quote or not. Furthermore,
Mutt only applies space-stuffing <span class="emphasis"><em>once</em></span> after the
initial edit is finished.
</p></div><p>
All leading spaces are to be removed by receiving clients to restore the
original message prior to further processing.
</p></div><div class="sect3"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="ff-editor"></a>6.4.3. Editor Considerations</h4></div></div></div><p>
As Mutt provides no additional features to compose
<code class="literal">f=f</code> messages, it's completely up to the user and his
editor to produce proper messages. Please consider your editor's
documentation if you intend to send <code class="literal">f=f</code> messages.
</p><p>
Please note that when editing messages from the compose menu several
times before really sending a mail, it's up to the user to ensure that
the message is properly space-stuffed.
</p><p>
For example, <span class="emphasis"><em>vim</em></span> provides the <code class="literal">w</code>
flag for its <code class="literal">formatoptions</code> setting to assist in
creating <code class="literal">f=f</code> messages, see <code class="literal">:help
fo-table</code> for details.
</p></div></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="forwarding-mail"></a>7. Forwarding and Bouncing Mail</h2></div></div></div><p>
Bouncing and forwarding let you send an existing message to recipients
that you specify. Bouncing a message sends a verbatim copy of a message
to alternative addresses as if they were the message's original
recipients specified in the Bcc header.  Forwarding a message, on the
other hand, allows you to modify the message before it is resent (for
example, by adding your own comments). Bouncing is done using the
<code class="literal">&lt;bounce&gt;</code> function and forwarding using the
<code class="literal">&lt;forward&gt;</code> function bound to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">b</span>”</span>
and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">f</span>”</span> respectively.
</p><p>
Forwarding can be done by including the original message in the new
message's body (surrounded by indicating lines) or including it as a
MIME attachment, depending on the value of the <a class="link" href="#mime-forward" title="3.144. mime_forward">$mime_forward</a> variable.  Decoding of
attachments, like in the pager, can be controlled by the <a class="link" href="#forward-decode" title="3.72. forward_decode">$forward_decode</a> and <a class="link" href="#mime-forward-decode" title="3.145. mime_forward_decode">$mime_forward_decode</a> variables,
respectively.  The desired forwarding format may depend on the content,
therefore <a class="link" href="#mime-forward" title="3.144. mime_forward">$mime_forward</a> is a
quadoption which, for example, can be set to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">ask-no</span>”</span>.
</p><p>
The inclusion of headers is controlled by the current setting of the
<a class="link" href="#weed" title="3.319. weed">$weed</a> variable, unless <a class="link" href="#mime-forward" title="3.144. mime_forward">$mime_forward</a> is set.
</p><p>
Editing the message to forward follows the same procedure as sending or
replying to a message does.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="postponing-mail"></a>8. Postponing Mail</h2></div></div></div><p>
At times it is desirable to delay sending a message that you have
already begun to compose.  When the
<code class="literal">&lt;postpone-message&gt;</code> function is used in the
<span class="emphasis"><em>compose</em></span> menu, the body of your message and
attachments are stored in the mailbox specified by the <a class="link" href="#postponed" title="3.200. postponed">$postponed</a> variable.  This means that you can
recall the message even if you exit Mutt and then restart it at a later
time.
</p><p>
Once a message is postponed, there are several ways to resume it.  From
the command line you can use the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-p</span>”</span> option, or if you
compose a new message from the <span class="emphasis"><em>index</em></span> or
<span class="emphasis"><em>pager</em></span> you will be prompted if postponed messages
exist.  If multiple messages are currently postponed, the
<span class="emphasis"><em>postponed</em></span> menu will pop up and you can select which
message you would like to resume.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
If you postpone a reply to a message, the reply setting of the message
is only updated when you actually finish the message and send it.  Also,
you must be in the same folder with the message you replied to for the
status of the message to be updated.
</p></div><p>
See also the <a class="link" href="#postpone" title="3.199. postpone">$postpone</a> quad-option.
</p></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="configuration"></a>Chapter 3. Configuration</h1></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#configuration-files">1. Location of Initialization Files</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#muttrc-syntax">2. Syntax of Initialization Files</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#addrgroup">3. Address Groups</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#alias">4. Defining/Using Aliases</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#bind">5. Changing the Default Key Bindings</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#charset-hook">6. Defining Aliases for Character Sets</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#folder-hook">7. Setting Variables Based Upon Mailbox</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#macro">8. Keyboard Macros</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#color">9. Using Color and Mono Video Attributes</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#msg-hdr-display">10. Message Header Display</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hdr-folding">10.1. Header Display</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ignore">10.2. Selecting Headers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hdr-order">10.3. Ordering Displayed Headers</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#alternates">11. Alternative Addresses</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#lists">12. Mailing Lists</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#mbox-hook">13. Using Multiple Spool Mailboxes</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#mailboxes">14. Monitoring Incoming Mail</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#my-hdr">15. User-Defined Headers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#save-hook">16. Specify Default Save Mailbox</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#fcc-hook">17. Specify Default Fcc: Mailbox When Composing</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#fcc-save-hook">18. Specify Default Save Filename and Default Fcc: Mailbox at Once</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#send-hook">19. Change Settings Based Upon Message Recipients</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#message-hook">20. Change Settings Before Formatting a Message</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#crypt-hook">21. Choosing the Cryptographic Key of the Recipient</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#push">22. Adding Key Sequences to the Keyboard Buffer</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#exec">23. Executing Functions</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#score-command">24. Message Scoring</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#spam">25. Spam Detection</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#set">26. Setting and Querying Variables</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#var-types">26.1. Variable Types</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#set-commands">26.2. Commands</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#set-myvar">26.3. User-Defined Variables</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#set-conversions">26.4. Type Conversions</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#source">27. Reading Initialization Commands From Another File</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#unhook">28. Removing Hooks</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#formatstrings">29. Format Strings</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#formatstrings-basics">29.1. Basic usage</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#formatstrings-conditionals">29.2. Conditionals</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#formatstrings-filters">29.3. Filters</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#formatstrings-padding">29.4. Padding</a></span></dt></dl></dd></dl></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="configuration-files"></a>1. Location of Initialization Files</h2></div></div></div><p>
While the default configuration (or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">preferences</span>”</span>) make
Mutt usable right out of the box, it is often desirable to tailor Mutt
to suit your own tastes. When Mutt is first invoked, it will attempt to
read the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">system</span>”</span> configuration file (defaults set by your
local system administrator), unless the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-n</span>”</span> <a class="link" href="#commandline" title="1. Command-Line Options">command line</a> option is specified.  This
file is typically <code class="literal">/usr/local/share/mutt/Muttrc</code> or
<code class="literal">/etc/Muttrc</code>. Mutt will next look for a file named
<code class="literal">.muttrc</code> in your home directory.  If this file does
not exist and your home directory has a subdirectory named
<code class="literal">.mutt</code>, Mutt tries to load a file named
<code class="literal">.mutt/muttrc</code>.
</p><p>
<code class="literal">.muttrc</code> is the file where you will usually place your
<a class="link" href="#commands" title="2. Configuration Commands">commands</a> to configure Mutt.
</p><p>
In addition, Mutt supports version specific configuration files that are
parsed instead of the default files as explained above.  For instance,
if your system has a <code class="literal">Muttrc-0.88</code> file in the system
configuration directory, and you are running version 0.88 of Mutt, this
file will be sourced instead of the <code class="literal">Muttrc</code> file.  The
same is true of the user configuration file, if you have a file
<code class="literal">.muttrc-0.88.6</code> in your home directory, when you run
Mutt version 0.88.6, it will source this file instead of the default
<code class="literal">.muttrc</code> file.  The version number is the same which
is visible using the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-v</span>”</span> <a class="link" href="#commandline" title="1. Command-Line Options">command line</a> switch or using the
<code class="literal">show-version</code> key (default: V) from the index menu.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="muttrc-syntax"></a>2. Syntax of Initialization Files</h2></div></div></div><p>
An initialization file consists of a series of <a class="link" href="#commands" title="2. Configuration Commands">commands</a>.  Each line of the file may contain
one or more commands.  When multiple commands are used, they must be
separated by a semicolon (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">;</span>”</span>).
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-rc-multiple-cmds"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.1. Multiple configuration commands per line</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
set realname='Mutt user' ; ignore x-
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
The hash mark, or pound sign (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">#</span>”</span>), is used as a
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">comment</span>”</span> character. You can use it to annotate your
initialization file. All text after the comment character to the end of
the line is ignored.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-ec-comment"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.2. Commenting configuration files</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
my_hdr X-Disclaimer: Why are you listening to me? <span class="comment"># This is a comment</span>
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
Single quotes (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">'</span>”</span>) and double quotes (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">"</span>”</span>)
can be used to quote strings which contain spaces or other special
characters.  The difference between the two types of quotes is similar
to that of many popular shell programs, namely that a single quote is
used to specify a literal string (one that is not interpreted for shell
variables or quoting with a backslash [see next paragraph]), while
double quotes indicate a string for which should be evaluated.  For
example, backticks are evaluated inside of double quotes, but
<span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> for single quotes.
</p><p>
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">\</span>”</span> quotes the next character, just as in shells such as
bash and zsh.  For example, if want to put quotes <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">"</span>”</span>
inside of a string, you can use <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">\</span>”</span> to force the next
character to be a literal instead of interpreted character.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-rc-quote"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.3. Escaping quotes in configuration files</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
set realname="Michael \"MuttDude\" Elkins"
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">\\</span>”</span> means to insert a literal <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">\</span>”</span> into the line.
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">\n</span>”</span> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">\r</span>”</span> have their usual C meanings of linefeed and
carriage-return, respectively.
</p><p>
A <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">\</span>”</span> at the end of a line can be used to split commands
over multiple lines as it <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">escapes</span>”</span> the line end, provided
that the split points don't appear in the middle of command names. Lines
are first concatenated before interpretation so that a multi-line can be
commented by commenting out the first line only.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-rc-split"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.4. Splitting long configuration commands over several lines</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
set status_format="some very \
long value split \
over several lines"
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
It is also possible to substitute the output of a Unix command in an
initialization file.  This is accomplished by enclosing the command in
backticks (``). In <a class="xref" href="#ex-rc-backtick" title="Example 3.5. Using external command's output in configuration files">Example 3.5, “Using external command's output in configuration files”</a>, the output of the
Unix command <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">uname -a</span>”</span> will be substituted before the line
is parsed.  Since initialization files are line oriented, only the first
line of output from the Unix command will be substituted.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-rc-backtick"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.5. Using external command's output in configuration files</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
my_hdr X-Operating-System: `uname -a`
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
Both environment variables and Mutt variables can be accessed by
prepending <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">$</span>”</span> to the name of the variable. For example,
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-rc-env"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.6. Using environment variables in configuration files</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
set record=+sent_on_$HOSTNAME
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
will cause Mutt to save outgoing messages to a folder named
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">sent_on_kremvax</span>”</span> if the environment variable
<code class="literal">$HOSTNAME</code> is set to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">kremvax.</span>”</span> (See
<a class="link" href="#record" title="3.217. record">$record</a> for details.)
</p><p>
Mutt expands the variable when it is assigned, not when it is used. If
the value of a variable on the right-hand side of an assignment changes
after the assignment, the variable on the left-hand side will not be
affected.
</p><p>
The commands understood by Mutt are explained in the next paragraphs.
For a complete list, see the <a class="link" href="#commands" title="2. Configuration Commands">command
reference</a>.
</p><p>
All configuration files are expected to be in the current locale as
specified by the <a class="link" href="#charset" title="3.25. charset">$charset</a> variable which
doesn't have a default value since it's determined by Mutt at startup.
If a configuration file is not encoded in the same character set the
<a class="link" href="#config-charset" title="3.30. config_charset">$config_charset</a> variable should be
used: all lines starting with the next are recoded from <a class="link" href="#config-charset" title="3.30. config_charset">$config_charset</a> to <a class="link" href="#charset" title="3.25. charset">$charset</a>.
</p><p>
This mechanism should be avoided if possible as it has the following
implications:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>These variables should be set early in a configuration
file with <a class="link" href="#charset" title="3.25. charset">$charset</a> preceding <a class="link" href="#config-charset" title="3.30. config_charset">$config_charset</a> so Mutt knows what
character set to convert to.</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>If <a class="link" href="#config-charset" title="3.30. config_charset">$config_charset</a>
is set, it should be set in each configuration file because the value is
global and <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> per configuration
file.</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Because Mutt first recodes a line before it attempts to
parse it, a conversion introducing question marks or other characters as
part of errors (unconvertable characters, transliteration) may introduce
syntax errors or silently change the meaning of certain tokens
(e.g. inserting question marks into regular
expressions).</p></li></ul></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="addrgroup"></a>3. Address Groups</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">group</code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
...] { 
<code class="option">-rx</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>expr</code></em>
...  |   
<code class="option">-addr</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>expr</code></em>
... }<br /><code class="command">ungroup</code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
...] { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<code class="option">-rx</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>expr</code></em>
...  |   
<code class="option">-addr</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>expr</code></em>
... }</p></div><p>
Mutt supports grouping addresses logically into named groups. An address
or address pattern can appear in several groups at the same time. These
groups can be used in <a class="link" href="#patterns" title="3. Patterns: Searching, Limiting and Tagging">patterns</a> (for searching, limiting and tagging) and
in hooks by using group patterns. This can be useful to classify mail
and take certain actions depending on in what groups the message is.
For example, the mutt user's mailing list would fit into the categories
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">mailing list</span>”</span> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">mutt-related</span>”</span>. Using <a class="link" href="#send-hook" title="19. Change Settings Based Upon Message Recipients"><code class="literal">send-hook</code></a>, the sender can
be set to a dedicated one for writing mailing list messages, and the
signature could be set to a mutt-related one for writing to a mutt list
— for other lists, the list sender setting still applies but a
different signature can be selected. Or, given a group only containing
recipients known to accept encrypted mail,
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">auto-encryption</span>”</span> can be achieved easily.
</p><p>
The <span class="command"><strong>group</strong></span> command is used to directly add either
addresses or regular expressions to the specified group or groups. The
different categories of arguments to the <span class="command"><strong>group</strong></span>
command can be in any order. The flags <code class="literal">-rx</code> and
<code class="literal">-addr</code> specify what the following strings (that cannot
begin with a hyphen) should be interpreted as: either a regular
expression or an email address, respectively.
</p><p>
These address groups can also be created implicitly by the <a class="link" href="#alias" title="4. Defining/Using Aliases"><span class="command"><strong>alias</strong></span></a>, <a class="link" href="#lists" title="12. Mailing Lists"><span class="command"><strong>lists</strong></span></a>, <a class="link" href="#lists" title="12. Mailing Lists"><span class="command"><strong>subscribe</strong></span></a> and <a class="link" href="#alternates" title="11. Alternative Addresses"><span class="command"><strong>alternates</strong></span></a> commands by
specifying the optional <code class="literal">-group</code> option. For example,
</p><pre class="screen">
alternates -group me address1 address2
alternates -group me -group work address3
</pre><p>
would create a group named <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">me</span>”</span> which contains all your
addresses and a group named <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">work</span>”</span> which contains only your
work address <span class="emphasis"><em>address3</em></span>. Besides many other
possibilities, this could be used to automatically mark your own
messages in a mailing list folder as read or use a special signature for
work-related messages.
</p><p>
The <span class="command"><strong>ungroup</strong></span> command is used to remove addresses or
regular expressions from the specified group or groups. The syntax is
similar to the <span class="command"><strong>group</strong></span> command, however the special
character <code class="literal">*</code> can be used to empty a group of all of
its contents. As soon as a group gets empty because all addresses and
regular expressions have been removed, it'll internally be removed, too
(i.e. there cannot be an empty group). When removing regular expressions
from a group, the pattern must be specified exactly as given to the
<span class="command"><strong>group</strong></span> command or <code class="literal">-group</code> argument.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="alias"></a>4. Defining/Using Aliases</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">alias</code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
...]  
<em class="replaceable"><code>key</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>address</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>address</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command">unalias</code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
...] { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>key</code></em>
... }</p></div><p>
It's usually very cumbersome to remember or type out the address of
someone you are communicating with.  Mutt allows you to create
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">aliases</span>”</span> which map a short string to a full address.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
If you want to create an alias for more than one address, you
<span class="emphasis"><em>must</em></span> separate the addresses with a comma
(<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">,</span>”</span>).
</p></div><p>
The optional <code class="literal">-group</code> argument to
<span class="command"><strong>alias</strong></span> causes the aliased address(es) to be added to
the named <span class="emphasis"><em>group</em></span>.
</p><p>
To remove an alias or aliases (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">*</span>”</span> means all aliases):
</p><pre class="screen">
alias muttdude me@cs.hmc.edu (Michael Elkins)
alias theguys manny, moe, jack
</pre><p>
Unlike other mailers, Mutt doesn't require aliases to be defined in a
special file.  The <span class="command"><strong>alias</strong></span> command can appear anywhere
in a configuration file, as long as this file is <a class="link" href="#source" title="27. Reading Initialization Commands From Another File"><span class="command"><strong>source</strong></span>d</a>.  Consequently, you
can have multiple alias files, or you can have all aliases defined in
your <code class="literal">.muttrc</code>.
</p><p>
On the other hand, the <a class="link" href="#create-alias"><code class="literal">&lt;create-alias&gt;</code></a>
function can use only one file, the one pointed to by the <a class="link" href="#alias-file" title="3.3. alias_file">$alias_file</a> variable (which is
<code class="literal">~/.muttrc</code> by default). This file is not special
either, in the sense that Mutt will happily append aliases to any file,
but in order for the new aliases to take effect you need to explicitly
<a class="link" href="#source" title="27. Reading Initialization Commands From Another File"><span class="command"><strong>source</strong></span></a> this file too.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-alias-external"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.7. Configuring external alias files</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
source /usr/local/share/Mutt.aliases
source ~/.mail_aliases
set alias_file=~/.mail_aliases
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
To use aliases, you merely use the alias at any place in Mutt where Mutt
prompts for addresses, such as the <span class="emphasis"><em>To:</em></span> or
<span class="emphasis"><em>Cc:</em></span> prompt.  You can also enter aliases in your
editor at the appropriate headers if you have the <a class="link" href="#edit-headers" title="3.59. edit_headers">$edit_headers</a> variable set.
</p><p>
In addition, at the various address prompts, you can use the tab
character to expand a partial alias to the full alias.  If there are
multiple matches, Mutt will bring up a menu with the matching aliases.
In order to be presented with the full list of aliases, you must hit tab
without a partial alias, such as at the beginning of the prompt or after
a comma denoting multiple addresses.
</p><p>
In the alias menu, you can select as many aliases as you want with the
<code class="literal">select-entry</code> key (default: &lt;Return&gt;), and use
the <span class="emphasis"><em>exit</em></span> key (default: q) to return to the address
prompt.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="bind"></a>5. Changing the Default Key Bindings</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">bind</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>map</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>key</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>function</code></em>
 </p></div><p>
This command allows you to change the default key bindings (operation
invoked when pressing a key).
</p><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>map</em></span> specifies in which menu the binding belongs.
Multiple maps may be specified by separating them with commas (no
additional whitespace is allowed). The currently defined maps are:
</p><a id="maps"></a><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt><span class="term">generic</span></dt><dd><p>
This is not a real menu, but is used as a fallback for all of the other
menus except for the pager and editor modes.  If a key is not defined in
another menu, Mutt will look for a binding to use in this menu.  This
allows you to bind a key to a certain function in multiple menus instead
of having multiple <span class="command"><strong>bind</strong></span> statements to accomplish the
same task.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">alias</span></dt><dd><p>
The alias menu is the list of your personal aliases as defined in your
<code class="literal">.muttrc</code>.  It is the mapping from a short alias name
to the full email address(es) of the recipient(s).
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">attach</span></dt><dd><p>
The attachment menu is used to access the attachments on received
messages.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">browser</span></dt><dd><p>
The browser is used for both browsing the local directory structure, and
for listing all of your incoming mailboxes.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">editor</span></dt><dd><p>
The editor is used to allow the user to enter a single line of text, such as
the <span class="emphasis"><em>To</em></span> or <span class="emphasis"><em>Subject</em></span> prompts in the
<code class="literal">compose</code> menu.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">index</span></dt><dd><p>
The index is the list of messages contained in a mailbox.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">compose</span></dt><dd><p>
The compose menu is the screen used when sending a new message.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">pager</span></dt><dd><p>
The pager is the mode used to display message/attachment data, and help
listings.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">pgp</span></dt><dd><p>
The pgp menu is used to select the OpenPGP keys used to encrypt outgoing
messages.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">smime</span></dt><dd><p>
The smime menu is used to select the OpenSSL certificates used to
encrypt outgoing messages.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">postpone</span></dt><dd><p>
The postpone menu is similar to the index menu, except is used when
recalling a message the user was composing, but saved until later.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">query</span></dt><dd><p>
The query menu is the browser for results returned by <a class="link" href="#query-command" title="3.209. query_command">$query_command</a>.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">mix</span></dt><dd><p>
The mixmaster screen is used to select remailer options for outgoing
messages (if Mutt is compiled with Mixmaster support).
</p></dd></dl></div><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>key</em></span> is the key (or key sequence) you wish to bind.
To specify a control character, use the sequence
<span class="emphasis"><em>\Cx</em></span>, where <span class="emphasis"><em>x</em></span> is the letter of
the control character (for example, to specify control-A use
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">\Ca</span>”</span>).  Note that the case of <span class="emphasis"><em>x</em></span> as
well as <span class="emphasis"><em>\C</em></span> is ignored, so that
<span class="emphasis"><em>\CA</em></span>, <span class="emphasis"><em>\Ca</em></span>,
<span class="emphasis"><em>\cA</em></span> and <span class="emphasis"><em>\ca</em></span> are all
equivalent.  An alternative form is to specify the key as a three digit
octal number prefixed with a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">\</span>”</span> (for example
<span class="emphasis"><em>\177</em></span> is equivalent to <span class="emphasis"><em>\c?</em></span>). In
addition, <span class="emphasis"><em>key</em></span> may be a symbolic name as shown in
<a class="xref" href="#tab-key-names" title="Table 3.1. Symbolic key names">Table 3.1, “Symbolic key names”</a>.
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-key-names"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 3.1. Symbolic key names</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Symbolic key names" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Symbolic name</th><th>Meaning</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>\t</td><td>tab</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;tab&gt;</td><td>tab</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;backtab&gt;</td><td>backtab / shift-tab</td></tr><tr><td>\r</td><td>carriage return</td></tr><tr><td>\n</td><td>newline</td></tr><tr><td>\e</td><td>escape</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;esc&gt;</td><td>escape</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;up&gt;</td><td>up arrow</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;down&gt;</td><td>down arrow</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;left&gt;</td><td>left arrow</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;right&gt;</td><td>right arrow</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;pageup&gt;</td><td>Page Up</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;pagedown&gt;</td><td>Page Down</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;backspace&gt;</td><td>Backspace</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;delete&gt;</td><td>Delete</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;insert&gt;</td><td>Insert</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;enter&gt;</td><td>Enter</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;return&gt;</td><td>Return</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;home&gt;</td><td>Home</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;end&gt;</td><td>End</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;space&gt;</td><td>Space bar</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;f1&gt;</td><td>function key 1</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;f10&gt;</td><td>function key 10</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>key</em></span> does not need to be enclosed in quotes unless
it contains a space (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"> </span>”</span>) or semi-colon
(<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">;</span>”</span>).
</p><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>function</em></span> specifies which action to take when
<span class="emphasis"><em>key</em></span> is pressed.  For a complete list of functions,
see the <a class="link" href="#functions" title="4. Functions">reference</a>. Note that the
<span class="command"><strong>bind</strong></span> expects <span class="emphasis"><em>function</em></span> to be
specified without angle brackets.
</p><p>
The special function <code class="literal">&lt;noop&gt;</code> unbinds the
specified key sequence.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="charset-hook"></a>6. Defining Aliases for Character Sets</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">charset-hook</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>alias</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>charset</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command">iconv-hook<a id="iconv-hook"></a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>charset</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>local-charset</code></em>
 </p></div><p>
The <span class="command"><strong>charset-hook</strong></span> command defines an alias for a
character set.  This is useful to properly display messages which are
tagged with a character set name not known to Mutt.
</p><p>
The <span class="command"><strong>iconv-hook</strong></span> command defines a system-specific name
for a character set.  This is helpful when your systems character
conversion library insists on using strange, system-specific names for
character sets.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="folder-hook"></a>7. Setting Variables Based Upon Mailbox</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">folder-hook</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]regexp</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>command</code></em>
 </p></div><p>
It is often desirable to change settings based on which mailbox you are
reading.  The <span class="command"><strong>folder-hook</strong></span> command provides a method
by which you can execute any configuration command.
<span class="emphasis"><em>regexp</em></span> is a regular expression specifying in which
mailboxes to execute <span class="emphasis"><em>command</em></span> before loading.  If a
mailbox matches multiple <span class="command"><strong>folder-hook</strong></span>s, they are
executed in the order given in the <code class="literal">.muttrc</code>.
</p><p>
The regexp parameter has <a class="link" href="#shortcuts" title="8. Mailbox Shortcuts">mailbox
shortcut</a> expansion performed on the first character.
See  <a class="xref" href="#mailbox-hook" title="5.2. Mailbox Matching in Hooks">Mailbox Matching in Hooks</a> for more details.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
If you use the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">!</span>”</span> shortcut for <a class="link" href="#spoolfile" title="3.277. spoolfile">$spoolfile</a> at the beginning of the pattern,
you must place it inside of double or single quotes in order to
distinguish it from the logical <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> operator for
the expression.
</p></div><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
Settings are <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> restored when you leave the
mailbox.  For example, a command action to perform is to change the
sorting method based upon the mailbox being read:
</p><pre class="screen">
folder-hook mutt "set sort=threads"</pre><p>
However, the sorting method is not restored to its previous value when
reading a different mailbox.  To specify a <span class="emphasis"><em>default</em></span>
command, use the pattern <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">.</span>”</span> before other
<span class="command"><strong>folder-hook</strong></span>s adjusting a value on a per-folder basis
because <span class="command"><strong>folder-hook</strong></span>s are evaluated in the order given
in the configuration file.
</p></div><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
The keyboard buffer will not be processed until after all hooks
are run; multiple <a class="link" href="#push" title="22. Adding Key Sequences to the Keyboard Buffer">push</a> or <a class="link" href="#exec" title="23. Executing Functions">exec</a> commands will end up being processed in
reverse order.
</p></div><p>
The following example will set the <a class="link" href="#sort" title="3.271. sort">sort</a>
variable to <code class="literal">date-sent</code> for all folders but to
<code class="literal">threads</code> for all folders containing
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">mutt</span>”</span> in their name.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-folder-sorting"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.8. Setting sort method based on mailbox name</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
folder-hook . "set sort=date-sent"
folder-hook mutt "set sort=threads"
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="macro"></a>8. Keyboard Macros</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">macro</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>menu</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>key</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>sequence</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>description</code></em>
]</p></div><p>
Macros are useful when you would like a single key to perform a series
of actions.  When you press <span class="emphasis"><em>key</em></span> in menu
<span class="emphasis"><em>menu</em></span>, Mutt will behave as if you had typed
<span class="emphasis"><em>sequence</em></span>.  So if you have a common sequence of
commands you type, you can create a macro to execute those commands with
a single key or fewer keys.
</p><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>menu</em></span> is the <a class="link" href="#maps">map</a> which
the macro will be bound in.  Multiple maps may be specified by
separating multiple menu arguments by commas. Whitespace may not be used
in between the menu arguments and the commas separating them.
</p><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>key</em></span> and <span class="emphasis"><em>sequence</em></span> are expanded
by the same rules as the <a class="link" href="#bind" title="5. Changing the Default Key Bindings">key bindings</a> with
some additions.  The first is that control characters in
<span class="emphasis"><em>sequence</em></span> can also be specified as
<span class="emphasis"><em>^x</em></span>.  In order to get a caret (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">^</span>”</span>) you
need to use <span class="emphasis"><em>^^</em></span>.  Secondly, to specify a certain key
such as <span class="emphasis"><em>up</em></span> or to invoke a function directly, you
can use the format <span class="emphasis"><em>&lt;key name&gt;</em></span> and
<span class="emphasis"><em>&lt;function name&gt;</em></span>.  For a listing of key names
see the section on <a class="link" href="#bind" title="5. Changing the Default Key Bindings">key bindings</a>.  Functions
are listed in the <a class="link" href="#functions" title="4. Functions">reference</a>.
</p><p>
The advantage with using function names directly is that the macros will
work regardless of the current key bindings, so they are not dependent
on the user having particular key definitions.  This makes them more
robust and portable, and also facilitates defining of macros in files
used by more than one user (e.g., the system Muttrc).
</p><p>
Optionally you can specify a descriptive text after
<span class="emphasis"><em>sequence</em></span>, which is shown in the help screens if
they contain a description.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
Macro definitions (if any) listed in the help screen(s), are
silently truncated at the screen width, and are not wrapped.
</p></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="color"></a>9. Using Color and Mono Video Attributes</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">color</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>object</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>foreground</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>background</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command">color</code>  { 
<code class="option">header</code>
  |   
<code class="option">body</code>
 }  
<em class="replaceable"><code>foreground</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>background</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command">color</code>   
<code class="option">index</code>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>foreground</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>background</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command">uncolor</code>  { 
<code class="option">index</code>
  |   
<code class="option">header</code>
  |   
<code class="option">body</code>
 } { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
... }</p></div><p>
If your terminal supports color, you can spice up Mutt by creating your
own color scheme.  To define the color of an object (type of
information), you must specify both a foreground color
<span class="emphasis"><em>and</em></span> a background color (it is not possible to only
specify one or the other).
</p><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>header</em></span> and <span class="emphasis"><em>body</em></span> match
<span class="emphasis"><em>regexp</em></span> in the header/body of a message,
<span class="emphasis"><em>index</em></span> matches <span class="emphasis"><em>pattern</em></span> (see
<a class="xref" href="#patterns" title="3. Patterns: Searching, Limiting and Tagging">Section 3, “Patterns: Searching, Limiting and Tagging”</a>) in the message index.  Note that IMAP
server-side searches (=b, =B, =h) are not supported for color index
patterns.
</p><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>object</em></span> can be one of:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>attachment</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>bold (highlighting bold patterns in the body of messages)</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>error (error messages printed by Mutt)</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>hdrdefault (default color of the message header in the pager)</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>indicator (arrow or bar used to indicate the current item in a menu)</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>markers (the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">+</span>”</span> markers at the beginning of wrapped lines in the pager)</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>message (informational messages)</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>normal</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>prompt</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>quoted (text matching <a class="link" href="#quote-regexp" title="3.212. quote_regexp">$quote_regexp</a> in the body of a message)</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>quoted1, quoted2, ..., quoted<span class="emphasis"><em>N</em></span> (higher levels of quoting)</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>search (highlighting of words in the pager)</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>signature</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>status (mode lines used to display info about the mailbox or message)</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>tilde (the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">~</span>”</span> used to pad blank lines in the pager)</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>tree (thread tree drawn in the message index and attachment menu)</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>underline (highlighting underlined patterns in the body of messages)</p></li></ul></div><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>foreground</em></span> and <span class="emphasis"><em>background</em></span> can
be one of the following:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>white</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>black</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>green</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>magenta</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>blue</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>cyan</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>yellow</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>red</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>default</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>color<span class="emphasis"><em>x</em></span></p></li></ul></div><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>foreground</em></span> can optionally be prefixed with the
keyword <code class="literal">bright</code> to make the foreground color boldfaced
(e.g., <code class="literal">brightred</code>).
</p><p>
If your terminal supports it, the special keyword
<span class="emphasis"><em>default</em></span> can be used as a transparent color.  The
value <span class="emphasis"><em>brightdefault</em></span> is also valid.  If Mutt is
linked against the <span class="emphasis"><em>S-Lang</em></span> library, you also need to
set the <code class="literal">$COLORFGBG</code> environment variable to the
default colors of your terminal for this to work; for example (for
Bourne-like shells):
</p><pre class="screen">
set COLORFGBG="green;black"
export COLORFGBG
</pre><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
The <span class="emphasis"><em>S-Lang</em></span> library requires you to use the
<span class="emphasis"><em>lightgray</em></span> and <span class="emphasis"><em>brown</em></span> keywords
instead of <span class="emphasis"><em>white</em></span> and <span class="emphasis"><em>yellow</em></span>
when setting this variable.
</p></div><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
The <span class="command"><strong>uncolor</strong></span> command can be applied to the index,
header and body objects only.  It removes entries from the list. You
<span class="emphasis"><em>must</em></span> specify the same pattern specified in the
<span class="command"><strong>color</strong></span> command for it to be removed.  The pattern
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">*</span>”</span> is a special token which means to clear the color list
of all entries.
</p></div><p>
Mutt also recognizes the keywords <span class="emphasis"><em>color0</em></span>,
<span class="emphasis"><em>color1</em></span>, ...,
<span class="emphasis"><em>color</em></span><span class="emphasis"><em>N-1</em></span>
(<span class="emphasis"><em>N</em></span> being the number of colors supported by your
terminal).  This is useful when you remap the colors for your display
(for example by changing the color associated with
<span class="emphasis"><em>color2</em></span> for your xterm), since color names may then
lose their normal meaning.
</p><a id="mono"></a><p>
If your terminal does not support color, it is still possible change the
video attributes through the use of the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">mono</span>”</span>
command. Usage:
</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">mono</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>object</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>attribute</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command">mono</code>  { 
<code class="option">header</code>
  |   
<code class="option">body</code>
 }  
<em class="replaceable"><code>attribute</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command">mono</code>   
<code class="option">index</code>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>attribute</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command">unmono</code>  { 
<code class="option">index</code>
  |   
<code class="option">header</code>
  |   
<code class="option">body</code>
 } { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
... }</p></div><p>
For <span class="emphasis"><em>object</em></span>, see the <span class="command"><strong>color</strong></span>
command. <span class="emphasis"><em>attribute</em></span> can be one of the following:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>none</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>bold</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>underline</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>reverse</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>standout</p></li></ul></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="msg-hdr-display"></a>10. Message Header Display</h2></div></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="hdr-folding"></a>10.1. Header Display</h3></div></div></div><p>
When displaying a message in the pager, Mutt folds long header lines at
<a class="link" href="#wrap" title="3.320. wrap">$wrap</a> columns. Though there're precise rules
about where to break and how, Mutt always folds headers using a tab for
readability. (Note that the sending side is not affected by this, Mutt
tries to implement standards compliant folding.)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ignore"></a>10.2. Selecting Headers</h3></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">ignore</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command">unignore</code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
... }</p></div><p>
Messages often have many header fields added by automatic processing
systems, or which may not seem useful to display on the screen.  This
command allows you to specify header fields which you don't normally
want to see in the pager.
</p><p>
You do not need to specify the full header field name.  For example,
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">ignore content-</span>”</span> will ignore all header fields that begin
with the pattern <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">content-</span>”</span>. <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">ignore *</span>”</span> will
ignore all headers.
</p><p>
To remove a previously added token from the list, use the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">unignore</span>”</span> command.  The <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">unignore</span>”</span> command
will make Mutt display headers with the given pattern.  For example, if
you do <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">ignore x-</span>”</span> it is possible to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">unignore
x-mailer</span>”</span>.
</p><p>
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">unignore *</span>”</span> will remove all tokens from the ignore list.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-header-weeding"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.9. Header weeding</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
<span class="comment"># Sven's draconian header weeding</span>
ignore *
unignore from date subject to cc
unignore organization organisation x-mailer: x-newsreader: x-mailing-list:
unignore posted-to:
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="hdr-order"></a>10.3. Ordering Displayed Headers</h3></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">hdr_order</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>header</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>header</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command">unhdr_order</code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>header</code></em>
... }</p></div><p>
With the <span class="command"><strong>hdr_order</strong></span> command you can specify an order
in which Mutt will attempt to present these headers to you when viewing
messages.
</p><p>
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><span class="command"><strong>unhdr_order</strong></span> *</span>”</span> will clear all previous
headers from the order list, thus removing the header order effects set
by the system-wide startup file.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-hdr-order"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.10. Configuring header display order</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
hdr_order From Date: From: To: Cc: Subject:
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="alternates"></a>11. Alternative Addresses</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">alternates</code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
...]  
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command">unalternates</code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
...] { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
... }</p></div><p>
With various functions, Mutt will treat messages differently, depending
on whether you sent them or whether you received them from someone else.
For instance, when replying to a message that you sent to a different
party, Mutt will automatically suggest to send the response to the
original message's recipients — responding to yourself won't make
much sense in many cases.  (See <a class="link" href="#reply-to" title="3.222. reply_to">$reply_to</a>.)
</p><p>
Many users receive e-mail under a number of different addresses. To
fully use Mutt's features here, the program must be able to recognize
what e-mail addresses you receive mail under. That's the purpose of the
<span class="command"><strong>alternates</strong></span> command: It takes a list of regular
expressions, each of which can identify an address under which you
receive e-mail.
</p><p>
As addresses are matched using regular expressions and not exact strict
comparisons, you should make sure you specify your addresses as precise
as possible to avoid mismatches. For example, if you specify:
</p><pre class="screen">
alternates user@example
</pre><p>
Mutt will consider <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">some-user@example</code></span>”</span>
as being your address, too which may not be desired. As a solution, in
such cases addresses should be specified as:
</p><pre class="screen">
alternates '^user@example$'
</pre><p>
The <code class="literal">-group</code> flag causes all of the subsequent regular
expressions to be added to the named group.
</p><p>
The <span class="command"><strong>unalternates</strong></span> command can be used to write
exceptions to <span class="command"><strong>alternates</strong></span> patterns. If an address
matches something in an <span class="command"><strong>alternates</strong></span> command, but you
nonetheless do not think it is from you, you can list a more precise
pattern under an <span class="command"><strong>unalternates</strong></span> command.
</p><p>
To remove a regular expression from the <span class="command"><strong>alternates</strong></span>
list, use the <span class="command"><strong>unalternates</strong></span> command with exactly the
same <span class="emphasis"><em>regexp</em></span>.  Likewise, if the
<span class="emphasis"><em>regexp</em></span> for an <span class="command"><strong>alternates</strong></span> command
matches an entry on the <span class="command"><strong>unalternates</strong></span> list, that
<span class="command"><strong>unalternates</strong></span> entry will be removed. If the
<span class="emphasis"><em>regexp</em></span> for <span class="command"><strong>unalternates</strong></span> is
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">*</span>”</span>, <span class="emphasis"><em>all entries</em></span> on
<span class="command"><strong>alternates</strong></span> will be removed.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="lists"></a>12. Mailing Lists</h2></div></div></div><a id="subscribe"></a><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">lists</code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
...]  
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command">unlists</code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
... }<br /><code class="command">subscribe</code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
...]  
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command">unsubscribe</code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
... }</p></div><p>
Mutt has a few nice features for <a class="link" href="#using-lists" title="9. Handling Mailing Lists">handling
mailing lists</a>.  In order to take advantage of them, you must
specify which addresses belong to mailing lists, and which mailing lists
you are subscribed to. Mutt also has limited support for auto-detecting
mailing lists: it supports parsing <code class="literal">mailto:</code> links in
the common <code class="literal">List-Post:</code> header which has the same
effect as specifying the list address via the <span class="command"><strong>lists</strong></span>
command (except the group feature). Once you have done this, the <a class="link" href="#list-reply"><code class="literal">&lt;list-reply&gt;</code></a>
function will work for all known lists.  Additionally, when you send a
message to a subscribed list, Mutt will add a Mail-Followup-To header to
tell other users' mail user agents not to send copies of replies to your
personal address.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
The Mail-Followup-To header is a non-standard extension which is not
supported by all mail user agents.  Adding it is not bullet-proof
against receiving personal CCs of list messages.  Also note that the
generation of the Mail-Followup-To header is controlled by the <a class="link" href="#followup-to" title="3.70. followup_to">$followup_to</a> configuration variable since
it's common practice on some mailing lists to send Cc upon replies
(which is more a group- than a list-reply).
</p></div><p>
More precisely, Mutt maintains lists of patterns for the addresses of
known and subscribed mailing lists.  Every subscribed mailing list is
known. To mark a mailing list as known, use the <span class="command"><strong>list</strong></span>
command.  To mark it as subscribed, use <span class="command"><strong>subscribe</strong></span>.
</p><p>
You can use regular expressions with both commands. To mark all messages
sent to a specific bug report's address on Debian's bug tracking system
as list mail, for instance, you could say
</p><pre class="screen">
subscribe [0-9]+.*@bugs.debian.org</pre><p>
as it's often sufficient to just give a portion of the list's e-mail
address.
</p><p>
Specify as much of the address as you need to to remove ambiguity.  For
example, if you've subscribed to the Mutt mailing list, you will receive
mail addressed to <code class="literal">mutt-users@mutt.org</code>.  So, to tell
Mutt that this is a mailing list, you could add <code class="literal">lists
mutt-users@</code> to your initialization file.  To tell Mutt that
you are subscribed to it, add <code class="literal"><span class="command"><strong>subscribe</strong></span>
mutt-users</code> to your initialization file instead.  If you also
happen to get mail from someone whose address is
<code class="literal">mutt-users@example.com</code>, you could use
<code class="literal"><span class="command"><strong>lists</strong></span> ^mutt-users@mutt\\.org$</code> or
<code class="literal"><span class="command"><strong>subscribe</strong></span> ^mutt-users@mutt\\.org$</code>
to match only mail from the actual list.
</p><p>
The <code class="literal">-group</code> flag adds all of the subsequent regular
expressions to the named <a class="link" href="#addrgroup" title="3. Address Groups">address group</a>
in addition to adding to the specified address list.
</p><p>
The <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">unlists</span>”</span> command is used to remove a token from the
list of known and subscribed mailing-lists. Use <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">unlists *</span>”</span>
to remove all tokens.
</p><p>
To remove a mailing list from the list of subscribed mailing lists, but
keep it on the list of known mailing lists, use
<span class="command"><strong>unsubscribe</strong></span>.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="mbox-hook"></a>13. Using Multiple Spool Mailboxes</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">mbox-hook</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]regexp</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mailbox</code></em>
 </p></div><p>
This command is used to move read messages from a specified mailbox to a
different mailbox automatically when you quit or change folders.
<span class="emphasis"><em>regexp</em></span> is a regular expression specifying the
mailbox to treat as a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">spool</span>”</span> mailbox and
<span class="emphasis"><em>mailbox</em></span> specifies where mail should be saved when
read.
</p><p>
The regexp parameter has <a class="link" href="#shortcuts" title="8. Mailbox Shortcuts">mailbox
shortcut</a> expansion performed on the first character.
See  <a class="xref" href="#mailbox-hook" title="5.2. Mailbox Matching in Hooks">Mailbox Matching in Hooks</a> for more details.
</p><p>
Unlike some of the other <span class="emphasis"><em>hook</em></span> commands, only the
<span class="emphasis"><em>first</em></span> matching regexp is used (it is not possible
to save read mail in more than a single mailbox).
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="mailboxes"></a>14. Monitoring Incoming Mail</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">mailboxes</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mailbox</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>mailbox</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command">unmailboxes</code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mailbox</code></em>
... }</p></div><p>
This command specifies folders which can receive mail and which will be
checked for new messages periodically.
</p><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>folder</em></span> can either be a local file or directory
(Mbox/Mmdf or Maildir/Mh). If Mutt was built with POP and/or IMAP
support, <span class="emphasis"><em>folder</em></span> can also be a POP/IMAP folder
URL. The URL syntax is described in <a class="xref" href="#url-syntax" title="1.2. URL Syntax">Section 1.2, “URL Syntax”</a>, POP
and IMAP are described in <a class="xref" href="#pop" title="3. POP3 Support">Section 3, “POP3 Support”</a> and <a class="xref" href="#imap" title="4. IMAP Support">Section 4, “IMAP Support”</a> respectively.
</p><p>
Mutt provides a number of advanced features for handling (possibly many)
folders and new mail within them, please refer to <a class="xref" href="#new-mail" title="10. New Mail Detection">Section 10, “New Mail Detection”</a> for details (including in what situations and how
often Mutt checks for new mail).
</p><p>
The <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">unmailboxes</span>”</span> command is used to remove a token from
the list of folders which receive mail. Use <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">unmailboxes *</span>”</span>
to remove all tokens.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
The folders in the <span class="command"><strong>mailboxes</strong></span> command are resolved
when the command is executed, so if these names contain <a class="link" href="#shortcuts" title="8. Mailbox Shortcuts">shortcut characters</a> (such as <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">=</span>”</span>
and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">!</span>”</span>), any variable definition that affects these
characters (like <a class="link" href="#folder" title="3.68. folder">$folder</a> and <a class="link" href="#spoolfile" title="3.277. spoolfile">$spoolfile</a>) should be set before the
<span class="command"><strong>mailboxes</strong></span> command. If none of these shortcuts are
used, a local path should be absolute as otherwise Mutt tries to find it
relative to the directory from where Mutt was started which may not
always be desired.
</p></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="my-hdr"></a>15. User-Defined Headers</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">my_hdr</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>string</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command">unmy_hdr</code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>field</code></em>
... }</p></div><p>
The <span class="command"><strong>my_hdr</strong></span> command allows you to create your own
header fields which will be added to every message you send and appear
in the editor if <a class="link" href="#edit-headers" title="3.59. edit_headers">$edit_headers</a> is
set.
</p><p>
For example, if you would like to add an <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Organization:</span>”</span>
header field to all of your outgoing messages, you can put the command
something like shown in <a class="xref" href="#ex-my-hdr" title="Example 3.11. Defining custom headers">Example 3.11, “Defining custom headers”</a> in your
<code class="literal">.muttrc</code>.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-my-hdr"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.11. Defining custom headers</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
my_hdr Organization: A Really Big Company, Anytown, USA
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
Space characters are <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> allowed between the
keyword and the colon (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">:</span>”</span>). The standard for electronic
mail (RFC2822) says that space is illegal there, so Mutt enforces the
rule.
</p></div><p>
If you would like to add a header field to a single message, you should
either set the <a class="link" href="#edit-headers" title="3.59. edit_headers">$edit_headers</a>
variable, or use the <code class="literal">&lt;edit-headers&gt;</code> function
(default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">E</span>”</span>) in the compose menu so that you can edit the
header of your message along with the body.
</p><p>
To remove user defined header fields, use the
<span class="command"><strong>unmy_hdr</strong></span> command. You may specify an asterisk
(<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">*</span>”</span>) to remove all header fields, or the fields to
remove. For example, to remove all <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">To</span>”</span> and
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Cc</span>”</span> header fields, you could use:
</p><pre class="screen">
unmy_hdr to cc
</pre></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="save-hook"></a>16. Specify Default Save Mailbox</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">save-hook</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mailbox</code></em>
 </p></div><p>
This command is used to override the default mailbox used when saving
messages. <span class="emphasis"><em>mailbox</em></span> will be used as the default if
the message matches <span class="emphasis"><em>pattern</em></span>, see <a class="xref" href="#pattern-hook" title="5.1. Message Matching in Hooks">Message Matching in Hooks</a> for information on the exact format.
</p><p>
To provide more flexibility and good defaults, Mutt applies the expandos
of <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a> to
<span class="emphasis"><em>mailbox</em></span> after it was expanded.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-save-hook-exando"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.12. Using %-expandos in <span class="command">save-hook</span></strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
<span class="comment"># default: save all to ~/Mail/&lt;author name&gt;</span>
save-hook . ~/Mail/%F

<span class="comment"># save from me@turing.cs.hmc.edu and me@cs.hmc.edu to $folder/elkins</span>
save-hook me@(turing\\.)?cs\\.hmc\\.edu$ +elkins

<span class="comment"># save from aol.com to $folder/spam</span>
save-hook aol\\.com$ +spam
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
Also see the <a class="link" href="#fcc-save-hook" title="18. Specify Default Save Filename and Default Fcc: Mailbox at Once"><span class="command"><strong>fcc-save-hook</strong></span></a> command.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="fcc-hook"></a>17. Specify Default Fcc: Mailbox When Composing</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">fcc-hook</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mailbox</code></em>
 </p></div><p>
This command is used to save outgoing mail in a mailbox other than <a class="link" href="#record" title="3.217. record">$record</a>.  Mutt searches the initial list of
message recipients for the first matching <span class="emphasis"><em>pattern</em></span>
and uses <span class="emphasis"><em>mailbox</em></span> as the default Fcc: mailbox.  If
no match is found the message will be saved to <a class="link" href="#record" title="3.217. record">$record</a> mailbox.
</p><p>
To provide more flexibility and good defaults, Mutt applies the
expandos of <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a> to
<span class="emphasis"><em>mailbox</em></span> after it was expanded.
</p><p>
See <a class="xref" href="#pattern-hook" title="5.1. Message Matching in Hooks">Message Matching in Hooks</a> for information on the exact format
of <span class="emphasis"><em>pattern</em></span>.
</p><pre class="screen">fcc-hook [@.]aol\\.com$ +spammers</pre><p>
...will save a copy of all messages going to the aol.com domain to the
`+spammers' mailbox by default.  Also see the <a class="link" href="#fcc-save-hook" title="18. Specify Default Save Filename and Default Fcc: Mailbox at Once"><span class="command"><strong>fcc-save-hook</strong></span></a> command.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="fcc-save-hook"></a>18. Specify Default Save Filename and Default Fcc: Mailbox at Once</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">fcc-save-hook</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mailbox</code></em>
 </p></div><p>
This command is a shortcut, equivalent to doing both a <a class="link" href="#fcc-hook" title="17. Specify Default Fcc: Mailbox When Composing"><span class="command"><strong>fcc-hook</strong></span></a> and a <a class="link" href="#save-hook" title="16. Specify Default Save Mailbox"><span class="command"><strong>save-hook</strong></span></a> with its
arguments, including %-expansion on <span class="emphasis"><em>mailbox</em></span>
according to <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="send-hook"></a>19. Change Settings Based Upon Message Recipients</h2></div></div></div><a id="reply-hook"></a><a id="send2-hook"></a><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">reply-hook</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>command</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command">send-hook</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>command</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command">send2-hook</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>command</code></em>
 </p></div><p>
These commands can be used to execute arbitrary configuration commands
based upon recipients of the message.  <span class="emphasis"><em>pattern</em></span> is
used to match the message, see <a class="xref" href="#pattern-hook" title="5.1. Message Matching in Hooks">Message Matching in Hooks</a> for
details. <span class="emphasis"><em>command</em></span> is executed when
<span class="emphasis"><em>pattern</em></span> matches.
</p><p>
<span class="command"><strong>reply-hook</strong></span> is matched against the message you are
<span class="emphasis"><em>replying to</em></span>, instead of the message you are
<span class="emphasis"><em>sending</em></span>.  <span class="command"><strong>send-hook</strong></span> is matched
against all messages, both <span class="emphasis"><em>new</em></span> and
<span class="emphasis"><em>replies</em></span>.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
<span class="command"><strong>reply-hook</strong></span>s are matched <span class="emphasis"><em>before</em></span> the
<span class="command"><strong>send-hook</strong></span>, <span class="emphasis"><em>regardless</em></span> of the order
specified in the user's configuration file.  However, you can inhibit
<span class="command"><strong>send-hook</strong></span> in the reply case by using the pattern
<code class="literal">'! ~Q'</code> (<span class="emphasis"><em>not replied</em></span>, see
<a class="xref" href="#pattern-hook" title="5.1. Message Matching in Hooks">Message Matching in Hooks</a>) in the <span class="command"><strong>send-hook</strong></span> to tell
when <span class="command"><strong>reply-hook</strong></span> have been executed.
</p></div><p>
<span class="command"><strong>send2-hook</strong></span> is matched every time a message is
changed, either by editing it, or by using the compose menu to change
its recipients or subject.  <span class="command"><strong>send2-hook</strong></span> is executed
after <span class="command"><strong>send-hook</strong></span>, and can, e.g., be used to set
parameters such as the <a class="link" href="#sendmail" title="3.238. sendmail">$sendmail</a>
variable depending on the message's sender address.
</p><p>
For each type of <span class="command"><strong>send-hook</strong></span> or
<span class="command"><strong>reply-hook</strong></span>, when multiple matches occur, commands are
executed in the order they are specified in the
<code class="literal">.muttrc</code> (for that type of hook).
</p><p>
Example: <code class="literal"><span class="command"><strong>send-hook</strong></span> mutt
"<span class="command"><strong>set</strong></span> mime_forward signature=''"</code>
</p><p>
Another typical use for this command is to change the values of the
<a class="link" href="#attribution" title="3.16. attribution">$attribution</a>, <a class="link" href="#signature" title="3.243. signature">$signature</a> and <a class="link" href="#locale" title="3.119. locale">$locale</a> variables in order to change the
language of the attributions and signatures based upon the recipients.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
<span class="command"><strong>send-hook</strong></span>'s are only executed once after getting the
initial list of recipients.  Adding a recipient after replying or
editing the message will not cause any <span class="command"><strong>send-hook</strong></span> to
be executed, similarly if <a class="link" href="#autoedit" title="3.18. autoedit">$autoedit</a> is
set (as then the initial list of recipients is empty). Also note that
<a class="link" href="#my-hdr" title="15. User-Defined Headers"><span class="command"><strong>my_hdr</strong></span></a> commands which
modify recipient headers, or the message's subject, don't have any
effect on the current message when executed from a
<span class="command"><strong>send-hook</strong></span>.
</p></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="message-hook"></a>20. Change Settings Before Formatting a Message</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">message-hook</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>command</code></em>
 </p></div><p>
This command can be used to execute arbitrary configuration commands
before viewing or formatting a message based upon information about the
message.  <span class="emphasis"><em>command</em></span> is executed if the
<span class="emphasis"><em>pattern</em></span> matches the message to be displayed. When
multiple matches occur, commands are executed in the order they are
specified in the <code class="literal">.muttrc</code>.
</p><p>
See <a class="xref" href="#pattern-hook" title="5.1. Message Matching in Hooks">Message Matching in Hooks</a> for information on the exact format
of <span class="emphasis"><em>pattern</em></span>.
</p><p>
Example:
</p><pre class="screen">
message-hook ~A 'set pager=builtin'
message-hook '~f freshmeat-news' 'set pager="less \"+/^  subject: .*\""'
</pre></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="crypt-hook"></a>21. Choosing the Cryptographic Key of the Recipient</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">crypt-hook</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>keyid</code></em>
 </p></div><p>
When encrypting messages with PGP/GnuPG or OpenSSL, you may want to
associate a certain key with a given e-mail address automatically,
either because the recipient's public key can't be deduced from the
destination address, or because, for some reasons, you need to override
the key Mutt would normally use.  The <span class="command"><strong>crypt-hook</strong></span>
command provides a method by which you can specify the ID of the public
key to be used when encrypting messages to a certain recipient.
You may use multiple crypt-hooks with the same regexp; multiple
matching crypt-hooks result in the use of multiple keyids for
a recipient.  During key selection, Mutt will confirm whether each
crypt-hook is to be used (unless the <a class="link" href="#crypt-confirmhook" title="3.40. crypt_confirmhook">$crypt_confirmhook</a> option is unset).
If all crypt-hooks for a recipient are declined, Mutt will use the
original recipient address for key selection instead.
</p><p>
The meaning of <span class="emphasis"><em>keyid</em></span> is to be taken broadly in this
context: You can either put a numerical key ID or fingerprint here, an
e-mail address, or even just a real name.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="push"></a>22. Adding Key Sequences to the Keyboard Buffer</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">push</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>string</code></em>
 </p></div><p>
This command adds the named string to the beginning of the keyboard buffer. The string
may contain control characters, key names and function names like the
sequence string in the <a class="link" href="#macro" title="8. Keyboard Macros">macro</a> command. You
may use it to automatically run a sequence of commands at startup, or
when entering certain folders. For example, <a class="xref" href="#ex-folder-hook-push" title="Example 3.13. Embedding push in folder-hook">Example 3.13, “Embedding <span class="command">push</span> in <span class="command">folder-hook</span>”</a> shows how to automatically collapse all
threads when entering a folder.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-folder-hook-push"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.13. Embedding <span class="command">push</span> in <span class="command">folder-hook</span></strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
folder-hook . 'push &lt;collapse-all&gt;'
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
For using functions like shown in the example, it's important to use
angle brackets (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">&lt;</span>”</span> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">&gt;</span>”</span>) to make
Mutt recognize the input as a function name. Otherwise it will simulate
individual just keystrokes, i.e. <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">push
collapse-all</code></span>”</span> would be interpreted as if you had typed
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">c</span>”</span>, followed by <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">o</span>”</span>, followed by
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">l</span>”</span>, ..., which is not desired and may lead to very
unexpected behavior.
</p><p>
Keystrokes can be used, too, but are less portable because of
potentially changed key bindings. With default bindings, this is
equivalent to the above example:
</p><pre class="screen">
folder-hook . 'push \eV'
</pre><p>
because it simulates that Esc+V was pressed (which is the default
binding of <code class="literal">&lt;collapse-all&gt;</code>).
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="exec"></a>23. Executing Functions</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">exec</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>function</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>function</code></em>
...]</p></div><p>
This command can be used to execute any function. Functions are listed
in the <a class="link" href="#functions" title="4. Functions">function reference</a>.
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><span class="command"><strong>exec</strong></span> <code class="literal">function</code></span>”</span> is
equivalent to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">push &lt;function&gt;</code></span>”</span>.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="score-command"></a>24. Message Scoring</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">score</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>value</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command">unscore</code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
... }</p></div><p>
The <span class="command"><strong>score</strong></span> commands adds <span class="emphasis"><em>value</em></span> to
a message's score if <span class="emphasis"><em>pattern</em></span> matches it.
<span class="emphasis"><em>pattern</em></span> is a string in the format described in the
<a class="link" href="#patterns" title="3. Patterns: Searching, Limiting and Tagging">patterns</a> section (note: For efficiency
reasons, patterns which scan information not available in the index,
such as <code class="literal">~b</code>, <code class="literal">~B</code> or
<code class="literal">~h</code>, may not be used).  <span class="emphasis"><em>value</em></span> is
a positive or negative integer.  A message's final score is the sum
total of all matching <span class="command"><strong>score</strong></span> entries.  However, you
may optionally prefix <span class="emphasis"><em>value</em></span> with an equal sign
(<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">=</span>”</span>) to cause evaluation to stop at a particular entry if
there is a match.  Negative final scores are rounded up to 0.
</p><p>
The <span class="command"><strong>unscore</strong></span> command removes score entries from the
list.  You <span class="emphasis"><em>must</em></span> specify the same pattern specified
in the <span class="command"><strong>score</strong></span> command for it to be removed.  The
pattern <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">*</span>”</span> is a special token which means to clear the
list of all score entries.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="spam"></a>25. Spam Detection</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">spam</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>format</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command">nospam</code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
 }</p></div><p>
Mutt has generalized support for external spam-scoring filters.  By
defining your spam patterns with the <span class="command"><strong>spam</strong></span> and
<code class="literal">nospam</code> commands, you can <span class="emphasis"><em>limit</em></span>,
<span class="emphasis"><em>search</em></span>, and <span class="emphasis"><em>sort</em></span> your mail
based on its spam attributes, as determined by the external filter. You
also can display the spam attributes in your index display using the
<code class="literal">%H</code> selector in the <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a> variable. (Tip: try
<code class="literal">%?H?[%H] ?</code> to display spam tags only when they are
defined for a given message.)
</p><p>
Your first step is to define your external filter's spam patterns using
the <span class="command"><strong>spam</strong></span> command. <span class="emphasis"><em>pattern</em></span> should
be a regular expression that matches a header in a mail message. If any
message in the mailbox matches this regular expression, it will receive
a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">spam tag</span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">spam attribute</span>”</span> (unless it
also matches a <span class="command"><strong>nospam</strong></span> pattern — see below.) The
appearance of this attribute is entirely up to you, and is governed by
the <span class="emphasis"><em>format</em></span> parameter. <span class="emphasis"><em>format</em></span>
can be any static text, but it also can include back-references from the
<span class="emphasis"><em>pattern</em></span> expression. (A regular expression
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">back-reference</span>”</span> refers to a sub-expression contained
within parentheses.) <code class="literal">%1</code> is replaced with the first
back-reference in the regex, <code class="literal">%2</code> with the second, etc.
</p><p>
To match spam tags, mutt needs the corresponding header information
which is always the case for local and POP folders but not for IMAP in
the default configuration. Depending on the spam header to be analyzed,
<a class="link" href="#imap-headers" title="3.101. imap_headers">$imap_headers</a> may need to be
adjusted.
</p><p>
If you're using multiple spam filters, a message can have more than one
spam-related header. You can define <span class="command"><strong>spam</strong></span> patterns for
each filter you use. If a message matches two or more of these patterns,
and the <a class="link" href="#spam-separator" title="3.276. spam_separator">$spam_separator</a> variable
is set to a string, then the message's spam tag will consist of all the
<span class="emphasis"><em>format</em></span> strings joined together, with the value of
<a class="link" href="#spam-separator" title="3.276. spam_separator">$spam_separator</a> separating them.
</p><p>
For example, suppose one uses DCC, SpamAssassin, and PureMessage, then
the configuration might look like in <a class="xref" href="#ex-spam" title="Example 3.14. Configuring spam detection">Example 3.14, “Configuring spam detection”</a>.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-spam"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.14. Configuring spam detection</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
spam "X-DCC-.*-Metrics:.*(....)=many"         "90+/DCC-%1"
spam "X-Spam-Status: Yes"                     "90+/SA"
spam "X-PerlMX-Spam: .*Probability=([0-9]+)%" "%1/PM"
set spam_separator=", "
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
If then a message is received that DCC registered with
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">many</span>”</span> hits under the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Fuz2</span>”</span> checksum, and
that PureMessage registered with a 97% probability of being spam, that
message's spam tag would read <code class="literal">90+/DCC-Fuz2,
97/PM</code>. (The four characters before <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">=many</span>”</span> in a
DCC report indicate the checksum used — in this case,
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Fuz2</span>”</span>.)
</p><p>
If the <a class="link" href="#spam-separator" title="3.276. spam_separator">$spam_separator</a> variable is
unset, then each spam pattern match supersedes the previous one. Instead
of getting joined <span class="emphasis"><em>format</em></span> strings, you'll get only
the last one to match.
</p><p>
The spam tag is what will be displayed in the index when you use
<code class="literal">%H</code> in the <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a> variable. It's also the
string that the <code class="literal">~H</code> pattern-matching expression
matches against for <code class="literal">&lt;search&gt;</code> and
<code class="literal">&lt;limit&gt;</code> functions. And it's what sorting by
spam attribute will use as a sort key.
</p><p>
That's a pretty complicated example, and most people's actual
environments will have only one spam filter. The simpler your
configuration, the more effective Mutt can be, especially when it comes
to sorting.
</p><p>
Generally, when you sort by spam tag, Mutt will sort
<span class="emphasis"><em>lexically</em></span> — that is, by ordering strings
alphanumerically. However, if a spam tag begins with a number, Mutt will
sort numerically first, and lexically only when two numbers are equal in
value. (This is like UNIX's <code class="literal">sort -n</code>.) A message with
no spam attributes at all — that is, one that didn't match
<span class="emphasis"><em>any</em></span> of your <span class="command"><strong>spam</strong></span> patterns
— is sorted at lowest priority. Numbers are sorted next, beginning
with 0 and ranging upward. Finally, non-numeric strings are sorted, with
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">a</span>”</span> taking lower priority than <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">z</span>”</span>. Clearly,
in general, sorting by spam tags is most effective when you can coerce
your filter to give you a raw number. But in case you can't, Mutt can
still do something useful.
</p><p>
The <span class="command"><strong>nospam</strong></span> command can be used to write exceptions to
<span class="command"><strong>spam</strong></span> patterns. If a header pattern matches something
in a <span class="command"><strong>spam</strong></span> command, but you nonetheless do not want it
to receive a spam tag, you can list a more precise pattern under a
<span class="command"><strong>nospam</strong></span> command.
</p><p>
If the <span class="emphasis"><em>pattern</em></span> given to <span class="command"><strong>nospam</strong></span>
is exactly the same as the <span class="emphasis"><em>pattern</em></span> on an existing
<span class="command"><strong>spam</strong></span> list entry, the effect will be to remove the
entry from the spam list, instead of adding an exception.  Likewise, if
the <span class="emphasis"><em>pattern</em></span> for a <span class="command"><strong>spam</strong></span> command
matches an entry on the <span class="command"><strong>nospam</strong></span> list, that nospam
entry will be removed. If the <span class="emphasis"><em>pattern</em></span> for
<span class="command"><strong>nospam</strong></span> is <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">*</span>”</span>, <span class="emphasis"><em>all entries on
both lists</em></span> will be removed. This might be the default action
if you use <span class="command"><strong>spam</strong></span> and <span class="command"><strong>nospam</strong></span> in
conjunction with a <span class="command"><strong>folder-hook</strong></span>.
</p><p>
You can have as many <span class="command"><strong>spam</strong></span> or
<span class="command"><strong>nospam</strong></span> commands as you like.  You can even do your
own primitive <span class="command"><strong>spam</strong></span> detection within Mutt — for
example, if you consider all mail from <code class="literal">MAILER-DAEMON</code>
to be spam, you can use a <span class="command"><strong>spam</strong></span> command like this:
</p><pre class="screen">
spam "^From: .*MAILER-DAEMON"       "999"
</pre></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="set"></a>26. Setting and Querying Variables</h2></div></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="var-types"></a>26.1. Variable Types</h3></div></div></div><p>
Mutt supports these types of configuration variables:
</p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt><span class="term">boolean</span></dt><dd><p>
A boolean expression, either <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">yes</span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">no</span>”</span>.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">number</span></dt><dd><p>
A signed integer number in the range -32768 to 32767.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">string</span></dt><dd><p>
Arbitrary text.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">path</span></dt><dd><p>
A specialized string for representing paths including support for
mailbox shortcuts (see <a class="xref" href="#shortcuts" title="8. Mailbox Shortcuts">Section 8, “Mailbox Shortcuts”</a>) as well as tilde
(<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">~</span>”</span>) for a user's home directory and more.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">quadoption</span></dt><dd><p>
Like a boolean but triggers a prompt when set to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">ask-yes</span>”</span>
or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">ask-no</span>”</span> with <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">yes</span>”</span> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">no</span>”</span>
preselected respectively.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">sort order</span></dt><dd><p>
A specialized string allowing only particular words as values depending
on the variable.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">regular expression</span></dt><dd><p>
A regular expression, see <a class="xref" href="#regexp" title="2. Regular Expressions">Section 2, “Regular Expressions”</a> for an introduction.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">folder magic</span></dt><dd><p>
Specifies the type of folder to use: <span class="emphasis"><em>mbox</em></span>,
<span class="emphasis"><em>mmdf</em></span>, <span class="emphasis"><em>mh</em></span> or
<span class="emphasis"><em>maildir</em></span>.  Currently only used to determine the type
for newly created folders.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">e-mail address</span></dt><dd><p>
An e-mail address either with or without realname. The older
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">user@example.org (Joe User)</code></span>”</span> form is
supported but strongly deprecated.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">user-defined</span></dt><dd><p>
Arbitrary text, see <a class="xref" href="#set-myvar" title="26.3. User-Defined Variables">Section 26.3, “User-Defined Variables”</a> for details.
</p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="set-commands"></a>26.2. Commands</h3></div></div></div><p>
The following commands are available to manipulate and query variables:
</p><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">set</code>  { 
[ <code class="option">no</code>  |   <code class="option">inv</code> ]
<em class="replaceable"><code>variable</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>variable=value</code></em>
 } [...]<br /><code class="command">toggle</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>variable</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>variable</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command">unset</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>variable</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>variable</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command">reset</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>variable</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>variable</code></em>
...]</p></div><p>
This command is used to set (and unset) <a class="link" href="#variables" title="3. Configuration Variables">configuration variables</a>.  There are four
basic types of variables: boolean, number, string and quadoption.
<span class="emphasis"><em>boolean</em></span> variables can be <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>
(true) or <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span> (false).
<span class="emphasis"><em>number</em></span> variables can be assigned a positive integer
value.  <span class="emphasis"><em>string</em></span> variables consist of any number of
printable characters and must be enclosed in quotes if they contain
spaces or tabs.  You may also use the escape sequences <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">\n</span>”</span>
and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">\t</span>”</span> for newline and tab, respectively.
<span class="emphasis"><em>quadoption</em></span> variables are used to control whether or
not to be prompted for certain actions, or to specify a default action.
A value of <span class="emphasis"><em>yes</em></span> will cause the action to be carried
out automatically as if you had answered yes to the question.
Similarly, a value of <span class="emphasis"><em>no</em></span> will cause the action to
be carried out as if you had answered <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">no.</span>”</span> A value of
<span class="emphasis"><em>ask-yes</em></span> will cause a prompt with a default answer
of <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">yes</span>”</span> and <span class="emphasis"><em>ask-no</em></span> will provide a
default answer of <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">no.</span>”</span>
</p><p>
Prefixing a variable with <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">no</span>”</span> will unset it.  Example:
<code class="literal"><span class="command"><strong>set</strong></span> noaskbcc</code>.
</p><p>
For <span class="emphasis"><em>boolean</em></span> variables, you may optionally prefix
the variable name with <code class="literal">inv</code> to toggle the value (on or
off).  This is useful when writing macros.  Example:
<code class="literal"><span class="command"><strong>set</strong></span> invsmart_wrap</code>.
</p><p>
The <span class="command"><strong>toggle</strong></span> command automatically prepends the
<code class="literal">inv</code> prefix to all specified variables.
</p><p>
The <span class="command"><strong>unset</strong></span> command automatically prepends the
<code class="literal">no</code> prefix to all specified variables.
</p><p>
Using the <code class="literal">&lt;enter-command&gt;</code> function in the
<span class="emphasis"><em>index</em></span> menu, you can query the value of a variable
by prefixing the name of the variable with a question mark:
</p><pre class="screen">
set ?allow_8bit
</pre><p>
The question mark is actually only required for boolean and quadoption
variables.
</p><p>
The <span class="command"><strong>reset</strong></span> command resets all given variables to the
compile time defaults (hopefully mentioned in this manual). If you use
the command <span class="command"><strong>set</strong></span> and prefix the variable with
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">&amp;</span>”</span> this has the same behavior as the
<span class="command"><strong>reset</strong></span> command.
</p><p>
With the <span class="command"><strong>reset</strong></span> command there exists the special
variable <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">all</span>”</span>, which allows you to reset all variables to
their system defaults.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="set-myvar"></a>26.3. User-Defined Variables</h3></div></div></div><div class="sect3"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="set-myvar-intro"></a>26.3.1. Introduction</h4></div></div></div><p>
Along with the variables listed in the <a class="link" href="#variables" title="3. Configuration Variables">Configuration variables</a> section, Mutt
supports user-defined variables with names starting with
<code class="literal">my_</code> as in, for example, <code class="literal">my_cfgdir</code>.
</p><p>
The <span class="command"><strong>set</strong></span> command either creates a custom
<code class="literal">my_</code> variable or changes its value if it does exist
already. The <span class="command"><strong>unset</strong></span> and <span class="command"><strong>reset</strong></span>
commands remove the variable entirely.
</p><p>
Since user-defined variables are expanded in the same way that
environment variables are (except for the <a class="link" href="#shell-escape">shell-escape</a> command and backtick
expansion), this feature can be used to make configuration files more
readable.
</p></div><div class="sect3"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="set-myvar-examples"></a>26.3.2. Examples</h4></div></div></div><p>
The following example defines and uses the variable
<code class="literal">my_cfgdir</code> to abbreviate the calls of the <a class="link" href="#source" title="27. Reading Initialization Commands From Another File"><span class="command"><strong>source</strong></span></a> command:
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-myvar1"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.15. Using user-defined variables for config file readability</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
set my_cfgdir = $HOME/mutt/config

source $my_cfgdir/hooks
source $my_cfgdir/macros
<span class="comment"># more source commands...</span>
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
A custom variable can also be used in macros to backup the current value
of another variable. In the following example, the value of the <a class="link" href="#delete" title="3.51. delete">$delete</a> is changed temporarily while its
original value is saved as <code class="literal">my_delete</code>.  After the
macro has executed all commands, the original value of <a class="link" href="#delete" title="3.51. delete">$delete</a> is restored.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-myvar2"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.16. Using user-defined variables for backing up other config option values</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
macro pager ,x '\
&lt;enter-command&gt;set my_delete=$delete&lt;enter&gt;\
&lt;enter-command&gt;set delete=yes&lt;enter&gt;\
...\
&lt;enter-command&gt;set delete=$my_delete&lt;enter&gt;'
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
Since Mutt expands such values already when parsing the configuration
file(s), the value of <code class="literal">$my_delete</code> in the
last example would be the value of <a class="link" href="#delete" title="3.51. delete">$delete</a> exactly
as it was at that point during parsing the configuration file. If
another statement would change the value for <a class="link" href="#delete" title="3.51. delete">$delete</a>
later in the same or another file, it would have no effect on
<code class="literal">$my_delete</code>. However, the expansion can
be deferred to runtime, as shown in the next example, when escaping the
dollar sign.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-myvar3"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.17. Deferring user-defined variable expansion to runtime</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
macro pager &lt;PageDown&gt; "\
&lt;enter-command&gt; set my_old_pager_stop=\$pager_stop pager_stop&lt;Enter&gt;\
&lt;next-page&gt;\
&lt;enter-command&gt; set pager_stop=\$my_old_pager_stop&lt;Enter&gt;\
&lt;enter-command&gt; unset my_old_pager_stop&lt;Enter&gt;"
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
Note that there is a space between
<code class="literal">&lt;enter-command&gt;</code> and the <span class="command"><strong>set</strong></span>
configuration command, preventing Mutt from recording the
<span class="command"><strong>macro</strong></span>'s commands into its history.
</p></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="set-conversions"></a>26.4. Type Conversions</h3></div></div></div><p>
Variables are always assigned string values which Mutt parses into its
internal representation according to the type of the variable, for
example an integer number for numeric types. For all queries (including
$-expansion) the value is converted from its internal type back into
string. As a result, any variable can be assigned any value given that
its content is valid for the target. This also counts for custom
variables which are of type string. In case of parsing errors, Mutt will
print error messages. <a class="xref" href="#ex-myvar4" title="Example 3.18. Type conversions using variables">Example 3.18, “Type conversions using variables”</a> demonstrates type
conversions.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-myvar4"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.18. Type conversions using variables</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
set my_lines = "5"                <span class="comment"># value is string "5"</span>
set pager_index_lines = $my_lines <span class="comment"># value is integer 5</span>

set my_sort = "date-received"     <span class="comment"># value is string "date-received"</span>
set sort = "last-$my_sort"        <span class="comment"># value is sort last-date-received</span>

set my_inc = $read_inc            <span class="comment"># value is string "10" (default of $read_inc)</span>
set my_foo = $my_inc              <span class="comment"># value is string "10"</span>
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
These assignments are all valid. If, however, the value of
<code class="literal">$my_lines</code> would have been
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">five</span>”</span> (or something else that cannot be parsed into a
number), the assignment to
<code class="literal">$pager_index_lines</code> would have
produced an error message.
</p><p>
Type conversion applies to all configuration commands which take
arguments. But please note that every expanded value of a variable is
considered just a single token. A working example is:
</p><pre class="screen">
set my_pattern = "~A"
set my_number = "10"

<span class="comment"># same as: score ~A +10</span>
score $my_pattern +$my_number</pre><p>
What does <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> work is:
</p><pre class="screen">
set my_mx = "+mailbox1 +mailbox2"
mailboxes $my_mx +mailbox3</pre><p>
because the value of <code class="literal">$my_mx</code> is interpreted as a
single mailbox named <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">+mailbox1 +mailbox2</span>”</span> and not two
distinct mailboxes.
</p></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="source"></a>27. Reading Initialization Commands From Another File</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">source</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>filename</code></em>
 </p></div><p>
This command allows the inclusion of initialization commands from other
files.  For example, I place all of my aliases in
<code class="literal">~/.mail_aliases</code> so that I can make my
<code class="literal">~/.muttrc</code> readable and keep my aliases private.
</p><p>
If the filename begins with a tilde (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">~</span>”</span>), it will be
expanded to the path of your home directory.
</p><p>
If the filename ends with a vertical bar (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">|</span>”</span>), then
<span class="emphasis"><em>filename</em></span> is considered to be an executable program
from which to read input (e.g.  <code class="literal"><span class="command"><strong>source</strong></span>
~/bin/myscript|</code>).
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="unhook"></a>28. Removing Hooks</h2></div></div></div><p>Usage:</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">unhook</code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>hook-type</code></em>
 }</p></div><p>
This command permits you to flush hooks you have previously defined.
You can either remove all hooks by giving the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">*</span>”</span> character
as an argument, or you can remove all hooks of a specific type by saying
something like <code class="literal"><span class="command"><strong>unhook</strong></span> send-hook</code>.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="formatstrings"></a>29. Format Strings</h2></div></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="formatstrings-basics"></a>29.1. Basic usage</h3></div></div></div><p>
Format strings are a general concept you'll find in several locations
through the Mutt configuration, especially in the <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a>, <a class="link" href="#pager-format" title="3.154. pager_format">$pager_format</a>, <a class="link" href="#status-format" title="3.293. status_format">$status_format</a>, and other related
variables. These can be very straightforward, and it's quite possible
you already know how to use them.
</p><p>
The most basic format string element is a percent symbol followed by
another character. For example, <code class="literal">%s</code> represents a
message's Subject: header in the <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a> variable. The
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">expandos</span>”</span> available are documented with each format
variable, but there are general modifiers available with all formatting
expandos, too. Those are our concern here.
</p><p>
Some of the modifiers are borrowed right out of C (though you might know
them from Perl, Python, shell, or another language). These are the
<code class="literal">[-]m.n</code> modifiers, as in
<code class="literal">%-12.12s</code>. As with such programming languages, these
modifiers allow you to specify the minimum and maximum size of the
resulting string, as well as its justification. If the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-</span>”</span>
sign follows the percent, the string will be left-justified instead of
right-justified. If there's a number immediately following that, it's
the minimum amount of space the formatted string will occupy — if
it's naturally smaller than that, it will be padded out with spaces.  If
a decimal point and another number follow, that's the maximum space
allowable — the string will not be permitted to exceed that width,
no matter its natural size. Each of these three elements is optional, so
that all these are legal format strings: <code class="literal">%-12s</code>,
<code class="literal">%4c</code>, <code class="literal">%.15F</code> and
<code class="literal">%-12.15L</code>.
</p><p>
Mutt adds some other modifiers to format strings. If you use an equals
symbol (<code class="literal">=</code>) as a numeric prefix (like the minus
above), it will force the string to be centered within its minimum space
range. For example, <code class="literal">%=14y</code> will reserve 14 characters
for the %y expansion — that's the X-Label: header, in <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a>. If the expansion results in
a string less than 14 characters, it will be centered in a 14-character
space.  If the X-Label for a message were <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">test</span>”</span>, that
expansion would look like
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">     test     </span>”</span>.
</p><p>
There are two very little-known modifiers that affect the way that an
expando is replaced. If there is an underline (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">_</span>”</span>)
character between any format modifiers (as above) and the expando
letter, it will expands in all lower case. And if you use a colon
(<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">:</span>”</span>), it will replace all decimal points with underlines.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="formatstrings-conditionals"></a>29.2. Conditionals</h3></div></div></div><p>
Depending on the format string variable, some of its sequences can be
used to optionally print a string if their value is nonzero. For
example, you may only want to see the number of flagged messages if such
messages exist, since zero is not particularly meaningful. To optionally
print a string based upon one of the above sequences, the following
construct is used:
</p><pre class="screen">
%?&lt;sequence_char&gt;?&lt;optional_string&gt;?</pre><p>
where <span class="emphasis"><em>sequence_char</em></span> is an expando, and
<span class="emphasis"><em>optional_string</em></span> is the string you would like
printed if <span class="emphasis"><em>sequence_char</em></span> is nonzero.
<span class="emphasis"><em>optional_string</em></span> may contain other sequences as well
as normal text, but you may not nest optional strings.
</p><p>
Here is an example illustrating how to optionally print the number of
new messages in a mailbox in <a class="link" href="#status-format" title="3.293. status_format">$status_format</a>:
</p><pre class="screen">
%?n?%n new messages.?</pre><p>
You can also switch between two strings using the following construct:
</p><pre class="screen">
%?&lt;sequence_char&gt;?&lt;if_string&gt;&amp;&lt;else_string&gt;?</pre><p>
If the value of <span class="emphasis"><em>sequence_char</em></span> is non-zero,
<span class="emphasis"><em>if_string</em></span> will be expanded, otherwise
<span class="emphasis"><em>else_string</em></span> will be expanded.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="formatstrings-filters"></a>29.3. Filters</h3></div></div></div><p>
Any format string ending in a vertical bar (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">|</span>”</span>) will be
expanded and piped through the first word in the string, using spaces as
separator. The string returned will be used for display.  If the
returned string ends in %, it will be passed through the formatter a
second time. This allows the filter to generate a replacement format
string including % expandos.
</p><p>
All % expandos in a format string are expanded before the script is
called so that:
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-fmtpipe"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 3.19. Using external filters in format strings</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
set status_format="script.sh '%r %f (%L)'|"
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
will make Mutt expand <code class="literal">%r</code>, <code class="literal">%f</code> and
<code class="literal">%L</code> before calling the script. The example also shows
that arguments can be quoted: the script will receive the expanded
string between the single quotes as the only argument.
</p><p>
A practical example is the <code class="literal">mutt_xtitle</code> script
installed in the <code class="literal">samples</code> subdirectory of the Mutt
documentation: it can be used as filter for <a class="link" href="#status-format" title="3.293. status_format">$status_format</a> to set the current
terminal's title, if supported.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="formatstrings-padding"></a>29.4. Padding</h3></div></div></div><p>
In most format strings, Mutt supports different types of padding using
special %-expandos:
</p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt><span class="term"><code class="literal">%|X</code></span></dt><dd><p>
When this occurs, Mutt will fill the rest of the line with the character
<code class="literal">X</code>. For example, filling the rest of the line with
dashes is done by setting:
</p><pre class="screen">
set status_format = "%v on %h: %B: %?n?%n&amp;no? new messages %|-"</pre></dd><dt><span class="term">
<code class="literal">%&gt;X</code>
</span></dt><dd><p>
Since the previous expando stops at the end of line, there must be a way
to fill the gap between two items via the <code class="literal">%&gt;X</code>
expando: it puts as many characters <code class="literal">X</code> in between two
items so that the rest of the line will be right-justified. For example,
to not put the version string and hostname the above example on the left
but on the right and fill the gap with spaces, one might use (note the
space after <code class="literal">%&gt;</code>):
</p><pre class="screen">
set status_format = "%B: %?n?%n&amp;no? new messages %&gt; (%v on %h)"</pre></dd><dt><span class="term"><code class="literal">%*X</code>
</span></dt><dd><p>
Normal right-justification will print everything to the left of the
<code class="literal">%&gt;</code>, displaying padding and whatever lies to the
right only if there's room. By contrast, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">soft-fill</span>”</span> gives
priority to the right-hand side, guaranteeing space to display it and
showing padding only if there's still room. If necessary, soft-fill will
eat text leftwards to make room for rightward text. For example, to
right-justify the subject making sure as much as possible of it fits on
screen, one might use (note two spaces after <code class="literal">%* </code>: the
second ensures there's a space between the truncated right-hand side and
the subject):
</p><pre class="screen">
set index_format="%4C %Z %{%b %d} %-15.15L (%?l?%4l&amp;%4c?)%*  %s"</pre></dd></dl></div></div></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="advancedusage"></a>Chapter 4. Advanced Usage</h1></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#charset-handling">1. Character Set Handling</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#regexp">2. Regular Expressions</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#patterns">3. Patterns: Searching, Limiting and Tagging</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#patterns-modifier">3.1. Pattern Modifier</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#simple-searches">3.2. Simple Searches</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#complex-patterns">3.3. Nesting and Boolean Operators</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#date-patterns">3.4. Searching by Date</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#tags">4. Using Tags</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#hooks">5. Using Hooks</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pattern-hook">5.1. Message Matching in Hooks</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mailbox-hook">5.2. Mailbox Matching in Hooks</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#query">6. External Address Queries</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#mailbox-formats">7. Mailbox Formats</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#shortcuts">8. Mailbox Shortcuts</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#using-lists">9. Handling Mailing Lists</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#new-mail">10. New Mail Detection</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#new-mail-formats">10.1. How New Mail Detection Works</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#new-mail-polling">10.2. Polling For New Mail</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#editing-threads">11. Editing Threads</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#link-threads">11.1. Linking Threads</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#break-threads">11.2. Breaking Threads</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#dsn">12. Delivery Status Notification (DSN) Support</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#urlview">13. Start a WWW Browser on URLs</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#misc-topics">14. Miscellany</a></span></dt></dl></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="charset-handling"></a>1. Character Set Handling</h2></div></div></div><p>
A <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">character set</span>”</span> is basically a mapping between bytes and
glyphs and implies a certain character encoding scheme. For example, for
the ISO 8859 family of character sets, an encoding of 8bit per character
is used. For the Unicode character set, different character encodings
may be used, UTF-8 being the most popular. In UTF-8, a character is
represented using a variable number of bytes ranging from 1 to 4.
</p><p>
Since Mutt is a command-line tool run from a shell, and delegates
certain tasks to external tools (such as an editor for composing/editing
messages), all of these tools need to agree on a character set and
encoding. There exists no way to reliably deduce the character set a
plain text file has. Interoperability is gained by the use of
well-defined environment variables. The full set can be printed by
issuing <code class="literal">locale</code> on the command line.
</p><p>
Upon startup, Mutt determines the character set on its own using
routines that inspect locale-specific environment variables. Therefore,
it is generally not necessary to set the <code class="literal">$charset</code>
variable in Mutt. It may even be counter-productive as Mutt uses system
and library functions that derive the character set themselves and on
which Mutt has no influence. It's safest to let Mutt work out the locale
setup itself.
</p><p>
If you happen to work with several character sets on a regular basis,
it's highly advisable to use Unicode and an UTF-8 locale. Unicode can
represent nearly all characters in a message at the same time.  When not
using a Unicode locale, it may happen that you receive messages with
characters not representable in your locale. When displaying such a
message, or replying to or forwarding it, information may get lost
possibly rendering the message unusable (not only for you but also for
the recipient, this breakage is not reversible as lost information
cannot be guessed).
</p><p>
A Unicode locale makes all conversions superfluous which eliminates the
risk of conversion errors. It also eliminates potentially wrong
expectations about the character set between Mutt and external programs.
</p><p>
The terminal emulator used also must be properly configured for the
current locale. Terminal emulators usually do <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span>
derive the locale from environment variables, they need to be configured
separately. If the terminal is incorrectly configured, Mutt may display
random and unexpected characters (question marks, octal codes, or just
random glyphs), format strings may not work as expected, you may not be
abled to enter non-ascii characters, and possible more.  Data is always
represented using bytes and so a correct setup is very important as to
the machine, all character sets <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">look</span>”</span> the same.
</p><p>
Warning: A mismatch between what system and library functions think the
locale is and what Mutt was told what the locale is may make it behave
badly with non-ascii input: it will fail at seemingly random places.
This warning is to be taken seriously since not only local mail handling
may suffer: sent messages may carry wrong character set information the
<span class="emphasis"><em>receiver</em></span> has too deal with. The need to set
<code class="literal">$charset</code> directly in most cases points at terminal
and environment variable setup problems, not Mutt problems.
</p><p>
A list of officially assigned and known character sets can be found at
<a class="ulink" href="http://www.iana.org/assignments/character-sets" target="_top">IANA</a>,
a list of locally supported locales can be obtained by running
<code class="literal">locale -a</code>.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="regexp"></a>2. Regular Expressions</h2></div></div></div><p>
All string patterns in Mutt including those in more complex <a class="link" href="#patterns" title="3. Patterns: Searching, Limiting and Tagging">patterns</a> must be specified using regular
expressions (regexp) in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">POSIX extended</span>”</span> syntax (which
is more or less the syntax used by egrep and GNU awk).  For your
convenience, we have included below a brief description of this syntax.
</p><p>
The search is case sensitive if the pattern contains at least one upper
case letter, and case insensitive otherwise.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">\</span>”</span> must be quoted if used for a regular expression in an
initialization command: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">\\</span>”</span>.
</p></div><p>
A regular expression is a pattern that describes a set of strings.
Regular expressions are constructed analogously to arithmetic
expressions, by using various operators to combine smaller expressions.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
The regular expression can be enclosed/delimited by either " or ' which
is useful if the regular expression includes a white-space character.
See <a class="xref" href="#muttrc-syntax" title="2. Syntax of Initialization Files">Syntax of Initialization Files</a> for more information on " and '
delimiter processing.  To match a literal " or ' you must preface it
with \ (backslash).
</p></div><p>
The fundamental building blocks are the regular expressions that match a
single character.  Most characters, including all letters and digits,
are regular expressions that match themselves.  Any metacharacter with
special meaning may be quoted by preceding it with a backslash.
</p><p>
The period <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">.</span>”</span> matches any single character.  The caret
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">^</span>”</span> and the dollar sign <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">$</span>”</span> are metacharacters
that respectively match the empty string at the beginning and end of a
line.
</p><p>
A list of characters enclosed by <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">[</span>”</span> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">]</span>”</span>
matches any single character in that list; if the first character of the
list is a caret <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">^</span>”</span> then it matches any character
<span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> in the list.  For example, the regular
expression <span class="emphasis"><em>[0123456789]</em></span> matches any single digit.
A range of ASCII characters may be specified by giving the first and
last characters, separated by a hyphen <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-</span>”</span>.  Most
metacharacters lose their special meaning inside lists.  To include a
literal <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">]</span>”</span> place it first in the list.  Similarly, to
include a literal <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">^</span>”</span> place it anywhere but first.
Finally, to include a literal hyphen <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-</span>”</span> place it last.
</p><p>
Certain named classes of characters are predefined.  Character classes
consist of <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">[:</span>”</span>, a keyword denoting the class, and
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">:]</span>”</span>.  The following classes are defined by the POSIX
standard in
<a class="xref" href="#posix-regex-char-classes" title="Table 4.1. POSIX regular expression character classes">Table 4.1, “POSIX regular expression character classes”</a>
</p><div class="table"><a id="posix-regex-char-classes"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 4.1. POSIX regular expression character classes</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="POSIX regular expression character classes" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Character class</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>[:alnum:]</td><td>Alphanumeric characters</td></tr><tr><td>[:alpha:]</td><td>Alphabetic characters</td></tr><tr><td>[:blank:]</td><td>Space or tab characters</td></tr><tr><td>[:cntrl:]</td><td>Control characters</td></tr><tr><td>[:digit:]</td><td>Numeric characters</td></tr><tr><td>[:graph:]</td><td>Characters that are both printable and visible. (A space is printable, but not visible, while an <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">a</span>”</span> is both)</td></tr><tr><td>[:lower:]</td><td>Lower-case alphabetic characters</td></tr><tr><td>[:print:]</td><td>Printable characters (characters that are not control characters)</td></tr><tr><td>[:punct:]</td><td>Punctuation characters (characters that are not letter, digits, control characters, or space characters)</td></tr><tr><td>[:space:]</td><td>Space characters (such as space, tab and formfeed, to name a few)</td></tr><tr><td>[:upper:]</td><td>Upper-case alphabetic characters</td></tr><tr><td>[:xdigit:]</td><td>Characters that are hexadecimal digits</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
A character class is only valid in a regular expression inside the
brackets of a character list.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
Note that the brackets in these class names are part of the symbolic
names, and must be included in addition to the brackets delimiting the
bracket list. For example, <span class="emphasis"><em>[[:digit:]]</em></span> is
equivalent to <span class="emphasis"><em>[0-9]</em></span>.
</p></div><p>
Two additional special sequences can appear in character lists.  These
apply to non-ASCII character sets, which can have single symbols (called
collating elements) that are represented with more than one character,
as well as several characters that are equivalent for collating or
sorting purposes:
</p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt><span class="term">Collating Symbols</span></dt><dd><p>
A collating symbol is a multi-character collating element enclosed in
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">[.</span>”</span> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">.]</span>”</span>.  For example, if
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">ch</span>”</span> is a collating element, then
<span class="emphasis"><em>[[.ch.]]</em></span> is a regexp that matches this collating
element, while <span class="emphasis"><em>[ch]</em></span> is a regexp that matches either
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">c</span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">h</span>”</span>.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">Equivalence Classes</span></dt><dd><p>
An equivalence class is a locale-specific name for a list of characters
that are equivalent. The name is enclosed in <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">[=</span>”</span> and
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">=]</span>”</span>.  For example, the name <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">e</span>”</span> might be used
to represent all of <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">e</span>”</span> with grave
(<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">è</span>”</span>), <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">e</span>”</span> with acute
(<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">é</span>”</span>) and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">e</span>”</span>.  In this case,
<span class="emphasis"><em>[[=e=]]</em></span> is a regexp that matches any of:
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">e</span>”</span> with grave (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">è</span>”</span>), <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">e</span>”</span>
with acute (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">é</span>”</span>) and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">e</span>”</span>.
</p></dd></dl></div><p>
A regular expression matching a single character may be followed by one
of several repetition operators described in <a class="xref" href="#regex-repeat" title="Table 4.2. Regular expression repetition operators">Table 4.2, “Regular expression repetition operators”</a>.
</p><div class="table"><a id="regex-repeat"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 4.2. Regular expression repetition operators</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Regular expression repetition operators" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Operator</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>?</td><td>The preceding item is optional and matched at most once</td></tr><tr><td>*</td><td>The preceding item will be matched zero or more times</td></tr><tr><td>+</td><td>The preceding item will be matched one or more times</td></tr><tr><td>{n}</td><td>The preceding item is matched exactly <span class="emphasis"><em>n</em></span> times</td></tr><tr><td>{n,}</td><td>The preceding item is matched <span class="emphasis"><em>n</em></span> or more times</td></tr><tr><td>{,m}</td><td>The preceding item is matched at most <span class="emphasis"><em>m</em></span> times</td></tr><tr><td>{n,m}</td><td>The preceding item is matched at least <span class="emphasis"><em>n</em></span> times, but no more than <span class="emphasis"><em>m</em></span> times</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
Two regular expressions may be concatenated; the resulting regular
expression matches any string formed by concatenating two substrings
that respectively match the concatenated subexpressions.
</p><p>
Two regular expressions may be joined by the infix operator
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">|</span>”</span>; the resulting regular expression matches any string
matching either subexpression.
</p><p>
Repetition takes precedence over concatenation, which in turn takes
precedence over alternation.  A whole subexpression may be enclosed in
parentheses to override these precedence rules.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
If you compile Mutt with the included regular expression engine, the
following operators may also be used in regular expressions as described
in <a class="xref" href="#regex-gnu-ext" title="Table 4.3. GNU regular expression extensions">Table 4.3, “GNU regular expression extensions”</a>.
</p></div><div class="table"><a id="regex-gnu-ext"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 4.3. GNU regular expression extensions</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="GNU regular expression extensions" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Expression</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>\\y</td><td>Matches the empty string at either the beginning or the end of a word</td></tr><tr><td>\\B</td><td>Matches the empty string within a word</td></tr><tr><td>\\&lt;</td><td>Matches the empty string at the beginning of a word</td></tr><tr><td>\\&gt;</td><td>Matches the empty string at the end of a word</td></tr><tr><td>\\w</td><td>Matches any word-constituent character (letter, digit, or underscore)</td></tr><tr><td>\\W</td><td>Matches any character that is not word-constituent</td></tr><tr><td>\\`</td><td>Matches the empty string at the beginning of a buffer (string)</td></tr><tr><td>\\'</td><td>Matches the empty string at the end of a buffer</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
Please note however that these operators are not defined by POSIX, so
they may or may not be available in stock libraries on various systems.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="patterns"></a>3. Patterns: Searching, Limiting and Tagging</h2></div></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="patterns-modifier"></a>3.1. Pattern Modifier</h3></div></div></div><p>
Many of Mutt's commands allow you to specify a pattern to match
(<code class="literal">limit</code>, <code class="literal">tag-pattern</code>,
<code class="literal">delete-pattern</code>, etc.). <a class="xref" href="#tab-patterns" title="Table 4.4. Pattern modifiers">Table 4.4, “Pattern modifiers”</a>
shows several ways to select messages.
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-patterns"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 4.4. Pattern modifiers</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Pattern modifiers" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Pattern modifier</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>~A</td><td>all messages</td></tr><tr><td>~b <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td><td>messages which contain <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span> in the message body</td></tr><tr><td>=b <span class="emphasis"><em>STRING</em></span></td><td>messages which contain <span class="emphasis"><em>STRING</em></span> in the message body. If IMAP is enabled, searches for <span class="emphasis"><em>STRING</em></span> on the server, rather than downloading each message and searching it locally.</td></tr><tr><td>~B <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td><td>messages which contain <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span> in the whole message</td></tr><tr><td>=B <span class="emphasis"><em>STRING</em></span></td><td>messages which contain <span class="emphasis"><em>STRING</em></span> in the whole message. If IMAP is enabled, searches for <span class="emphasis"><em>STRING</em></span> on the server, rather than downloading each message and searching it locally.</td></tr><tr><td>~c <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td><td>messages carbon-copied to <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td></tr><tr><td>%c <span class="emphasis"><em>GROUP</em></span></td><td>messages carbon-copied to any member of <span class="emphasis"><em>GROUP</em></span></td></tr><tr><td>~C <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td><td>messages either to: or cc: <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td></tr><tr><td>%C <span class="emphasis"><em>GROUP</em></span></td><td>messages either to: or cc: to any member of <span class="emphasis"><em>GROUP</em></span></td></tr><tr><td>~d [<span class="emphasis"><em>MIN</em></span>]-[<span class="emphasis"><em>MAX</em></span>]</td><td>messages with <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">date-sent</span>”</span> in a Date range</td></tr><tr><td>~D</td><td>deleted messages</td></tr><tr><td>~e <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td><td>messages which contains <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span> in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Sender</span>”</span> field</td></tr><tr><td>%e <span class="emphasis"><em>GROUP</em></span></td><td>messages which contain a member of <span class="emphasis"><em>GROUP</em></span> in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Sender</span>”</span> field</td></tr><tr><td>~E</td><td>expired messages</td></tr><tr><td>~F</td><td>flagged messages</td></tr><tr><td>~f <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td><td>messages originating from <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td></tr><tr><td>%f <span class="emphasis"><em>GROUP</em></span></td><td>messages originating from any member of <span class="emphasis"><em>GROUP</em></span></td></tr><tr><td>~g</td><td>cryptographically signed messages</td></tr><tr><td>~G</td><td>cryptographically encrypted messages</td></tr><tr><td>~h <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td><td>messages which contain <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span> in the message header</td></tr><tr><td>=h <span class="emphasis"><em>STRING</em></span></td><td>messages which contain <span class="emphasis"><em>STRING</em></span> in the message header. If IMAP is enabled, searches for <span class="emphasis"><em>STRING</em></span> on the server, rather than downloading each message and searching it locally; <span class="emphasis"><em>STRING</em></span> must be of the form <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">header: substring</span>”</span> (see below).</td></tr><tr><td>~H <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td><td>messages with a spam attribute matching <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td></tr><tr><td>~i <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td><td>messages which match <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span> in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Message-ID</span>”</span> field</td></tr><tr><td>~k</td><td>messages which contain PGP key material</td></tr><tr><td>~L <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td><td>messages either originated or received by <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td></tr><tr><td>%L <span class="emphasis"><em>GROUP</em></span></td><td>message either originated or received by any member of <span class="emphasis"><em>GROUP</em></span></td></tr><tr><td>~l</td><td>messages addressed to a known mailing list</td></tr><tr><td>~m [<span class="emphasis"><em>MIN</em></span>]-[<span class="emphasis"><em>MAX</em></span>]</td><td>messages in the range <span class="emphasis"><em>MIN</em></span> to <span class="emphasis"><em>MAX</em></span> *)</td></tr><tr><td>~n [<span class="emphasis"><em>MIN</em></span>]-[<span class="emphasis"><em>MAX</em></span>]</td><td>messages with a score in the range <span class="emphasis"><em>MIN</em></span> to <span class="emphasis"><em>MAX</em></span> *)</td></tr><tr><td>~N</td><td>new messages</td></tr><tr><td>~O</td><td>old messages</td></tr><tr><td>~p</td><td>messages addressed to you (consults <span class="command"><strong>alternates</strong></span>)</td></tr><tr><td>~P</td><td>messages from you (consults <span class="command"><strong>alternates</strong></span>)</td></tr><tr><td>~Q</td><td>messages which have been replied to</td></tr><tr><td>~r [<span class="emphasis"><em>MIN</em></span>]-[<span class="emphasis"><em>MAX</em></span>]</td><td>messages with <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">date-received</span>”</span> in a Date range</td></tr><tr><td>~R</td><td>read messages</td></tr><tr><td>~s <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td><td>messages having <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span> in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Subject</span>”</span> field.</td></tr><tr><td>~S</td><td>superseded messages</td></tr><tr><td>~t <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td><td>messages addressed to <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td></tr><tr><td>~T</td><td>tagged messages</td></tr><tr><td>~u</td><td>messages addressed to a subscribed mailing list</td></tr><tr><td>~U</td><td>unread messages</td></tr><tr><td>~v</td><td>messages part of a collapsed thread.</td></tr><tr><td>~V</td><td>cryptographically verified messages</td></tr><tr><td>~x <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td><td>messages which contain <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span> in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">References</span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">In-Reply-To</span>”</span> field</td></tr><tr><td>~X [<span class="emphasis"><em>MIN</em></span>]-[<span class="emphasis"><em>MAX</em></span>]</td><td>messages with <span class="emphasis"><em>MIN</em></span> to <span class="emphasis"><em>MAX</em></span> attachments *)</td></tr><tr><td>~y <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span></td><td>messages which contain <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span> in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X-Label</span>”</span> field</td></tr><tr><td>~z [<span class="emphasis"><em>MIN</em></span>]-[<span class="emphasis"><em>MAX</em></span>]</td><td>messages with a size in the range <span class="emphasis"><em>MIN</em></span> to <span class="emphasis"><em>MAX</em></span> *) **)</td></tr><tr><td>~=</td><td>duplicated messages (see <a class="link" href="#duplicate-threads" title="3.58. duplicate_threads">$duplicate_threads</a>)</td></tr><tr><td>~$</td><td>unreferenced messages (requires threaded view)</td></tr><tr><td>~(<span class="emphasis"><em>PATTERN</em></span>)</td><td>messages in threads
containing messages matching <span class="emphasis"><em>PATTERN</em></span>, e.g. all
threads containing messages from you: ~(~P)</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
Where <span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span> is a <a class="link" href="#regexp" title="2. Regular Expressions">regular expression</a>, and <span class="emphasis"><em>GROUP</em></span> is an
<a class="link" href="#addrgroup" title="3. Address Groups">address group</a>.
</p><p>
*) The forms <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">&lt;[<span class="emphasis"><em>MAX</em></span>]</span>”</span>,
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">&gt;[<span class="emphasis"><em>MIN</em></span>]</span>”</span>,
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">[<span class="emphasis"><em>MIN</em></span>]-</span>”</span> and
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-[<span class="emphasis"><em>MAX</em></span>]</span>”</span> are allowed, too.
</p><p>
**) The suffixes <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">K</span>”</span> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">M</span>”</span> are allowed to
specify kilobyte and megabyte respectively.
</p><p>
Special attention has to be payed when using regular expressions inside
of patterns.  Specifically, Mutt's parser for these patterns will strip
one level of backslash (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">\</span>”</span>), which is normally used for
quoting.  If it is your intention to use a backslash in the regular
expression, you will need to use two backslashes instead
(<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">\\</span>”</span>). You can force Mutt to treat
<span class="emphasis"><em>EXPR</em></span> as a simple string instead of a regular
expression by using = instead of ~ in the pattern name. For example,
<code class="literal">=b *.*</code> will find all messages that contain the
literal string <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">*.*</span>”</span>. Simple string matches are less
powerful than regular expressions but can be considerably faster. This
is especially true for IMAP folders, because string matches can be
performed on the server instead of by fetching every message. IMAP
treats <code class="literal">=h</code> specially: it must be of the form
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">header: substring</span>”</span> and will not partially match header
names. The substring part may be omitted if you simply wish to find
messages containing a particular header without regard to its value.
</p><p>
Patterns matching lists of addresses (notably c, C, p, P and t) match if
there is at least one match in the whole list. If you want to make sure
that all elements of that list match, you need to prefix your pattern
with <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">^</span>”</span>.  This example matches all mails which only has
recipients from Germany.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-recips"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 4.1. Matching all addresses in address lists</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
^~C \.de$
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="simple-searches"></a>3.2. Simple Searches</h3></div></div></div><p>
Mutt supports two versions of so called <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">simple
searches</span>”</span>. These are issued if the query entered for searching,
limiting and similar operations does not seem to contain a valid pattern
modifier (i.e. it does not contain one of these characters:
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">~</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">=</span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">%</span>”</span>). If the query is
supposed to contain one of these special characters, they must be
escaped by prepending a backslash (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">\</span>”</span>).
</p><p>
The first type is by checking whether the query string equals
a keyword case-insensitively from <a class="xref" href="#tab-simplesearch-keywords" title="Table 4.5. Simple search keywords">Table 4.5, “Simple search keywords”</a>:
If that is the case, Mutt will use the shown pattern modifier instead.
If a keyword would conflict with your search keyword, you need to turn
it into a regular expression to avoid matching the keyword table. For
example, if you want to find all messages matching <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">flag</span>”</span>
(using <a class="link" href="#simple-search" title="3.244. simple_search">$simple_search</a>)
but don't want to match flagged messages, simply search for
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">[f]lag</code></span>”</span>.
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-simplesearch-keywords"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 4.5. Simple search keywords</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Simple search keywords" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Keyword</th><th>Pattern modifier</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>all</td><td>~A</td></tr><tr><td>.</td><td>~A</td></tr><tr><td>^</td><td>~A</td></tr><tr><td>del</td><td>~D</td></tr><tr><td>flag</td><td>~F</td></tr><tr><td>new</td><td>~N</td></tr><tr><td>old</td><td>~O</td></tr><tr><td>repl</td><td>~Q</td></tr><tr><td>read</td><td>~R</td></tr><tr><td>tag</td><td>~T</td></tr><tr><td>unread</td><td>~U</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
The second type of simple search is to build a complex search pattern
using <a class="link" href="#simple-search" title="3.244. simple_search">$simple_search</a> as a
template. Mutt will insert your query properly quoted and search for the
composed complex query.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="complex-patterns"></a>3.3. Nesting and Boolean Operators</h3></div></div></div><p>
Logical AND is performed by specifying more than one criterion.  For
example:
</p><pre class="screen">
~t mutt ~f elkins
</pre><p>
would select messages which contain the word <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">mutt</span>”</span> in the
list of recipients <span class="emphasis"><em>and</em></span> that have the word
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">elkins</span>”</span> in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">From</span>”</span> header field.
</p><p>
Mutt also recognizes the following operators to create more complex
search patterns:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>
! — logical NOT operator
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
| — logical OR operator
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
() — logical grouping operator
</p></li></ul></div><p>
Here is an example illustrating a complex search pattern.  This pattern
will select all messages which do not contain <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">mutt</span>”</span> in the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">To</span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Cc</span>”</span> field and which are from
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">elkins</span>”</span>.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-pattern-bool"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 4.2. Using boolean operators in patterns</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
!(~t mutt|~c mutt) ~f elkins
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
Here is an example using white space in the regular expression (note the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">'</span>”</span> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">"</span>”</span> delimiters).  For this to match,
the mail's subject must match the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">^Junk +From +Me$</span>”</span> and it
must be from either <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Jim +Somebody</span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Ed
+SomeoneElse</span>”</span>:
</p><pre class="screen">
'~s "^Junk +From +Me$" ~f ("Jim +Somebody"|"Ed +SomeoneElse")'
</pre><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
If a regular expression contains parenthesis, or a vertical bar ("|"),
you <span class="emphasis"><em>must</em></span> enclose the expression in double or single
quotes since those characters are also used to separate different parts
of Mutt's pattern language.  For example: <code class="literal">~f
"me@(mutt\.org|cs\.hmc\.edu)"</code> Without the quotes, the
parenthesis wouldn't end.  This would be separated to two OR'd patterns:
<span class="emphasis"><em>~f me@(mutt\.org</em></span> and
<span class="emphasis"><em>cs\.hmc\.edu)</em></span>. They are never what you want.
</p></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="date-patterns"></a>3.4. Searching by Date</h3></div></div></div><p>
Mutt supports two types of dates, <span class="emphasis"><em>absolute</em></span> and
<span class="emphasis"><em>relative</em></span>.
</p><div class="sect3"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="date-absolute"></a>3.4.1. Absolute Dates</h4></div></div></div><p>
Dates <span class="emphasis"><em>must</em></span> be in DD/MM/YY format (month and year
are optional, defaulting to the current month and year).  An example of
a valid range of dates is:
</p><pre class="screen">
Limit to messages matching: ~d 20/1/95-31/10
</pre><p>
If you omit the minimum (first) date, and just specify
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-DD/MM/YY</span>”</span>, all messages <span class="emphasis"><em>before</em></span> the
given date will be selected.  If you omit the maximum (second) date, and
specify <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">DD/MM/YY-</span>”</span>, all messages
<span class="emphasis"><em>after</em></span> the given date will be selected.  If you
specify a single date with no dash (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-</span>”</span>), only messages
sent on the given date will be selected.
</p><p>
You can add error margins to absolute dates.  An error margin is a sign
(+ or -), followed by a digit, followed by one of the units in <a class="xref" href="#tab-date-units" title="Table 4.6. Date units">Table 4.6, “Date units”</a>. As a special case, you can replace the sign
by a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">*</span>”</span> character, which is equivalent to giving identical
plus and minus error margins.
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-date-units"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 4.6. Date units</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Date units" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Unit</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>y</td><td>Years</td></tr><tr><td>m</td><td>Months</td></tr><tr><td>w</td><td>Weeks</td></tr><tr><td>d</td><td>Days</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
Example: To select any messages two weeks around January 15, 2001, you'd
use the following pattern:
</p><pre class="screen">
Limit to messages matching: ~d 15/1/2001*2w
</pre></div><div class="sect3"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="dates-relative"></a>3.4.2. Relative Dates</h4></div></div></div><p>
This type of date is relative to the current date, and may be specified
as:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>
&gt;<span class="emphasis"><em>offset</em></span> for messages older than
<span class="emphasis"><em>offset</em></span> units
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
&lt;<span class="emphasis"><em>offset</em></span> for messages newer than
<span class="emphasis"><em>offset</em></span> units
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
=<span class="emphasis"><em>offset</em></span> for messages exactly
<span class="emphasis"><em>offset</em></span> units old
</p></li></ul></div><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>offset</em></span> is specified as a positive number with one
of the units from <a class="xref" href="#tab-date-units" title="Table 4.6. Date units">Table 4.6, “Date units”</a>.
</p><p>
Example: to select messages less than 1 month old, you would use
</p><pre class="screen">
Limit to messages matching: ~d &lt;1m
</pre><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
All dates used when searching are relative to the
<span class="emphasis"><em>local</em></span> time zone, so unless you change the setting
of your <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a> to include a
<code class="literal">%[...]</code> format, these are <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> the
dates shown in the main index.
</p></div></div></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="tags"></a>4. Using Tags</h2></div></div></div><p>
Sometimes it is desirable to perform an operation on a group of messages
all at once rather than one at a time.  An example might be to save
messages to a mailing list to a separate folder, or to delete all
messages with a given subject.  To tag all messages matching a pattern,
use the <code class="literal">&lt;tag-pattern&gt;</code> function, which is bound
to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">shift-T</span>”</span> by default.  Or you can select individual
messages by hand using the <code class="literal">&lt;tag-message&gt;</code>
function, which is bound to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">t</span>”</span> by default.  See <a class="link" href="#patterns" title="3. Patterns: Searching, Limiting and Tagging">patterns</a> for Mutt's pattern matching syntax.
</p><p>
Once you have tagged the desired messages, you can use the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">tag-prefix</span>”</span> operator, which is the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">;</span>”</span>
(semicolon) key by default.  When the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">tag-prefix</span>”</span> operator
is used, the <span class="emphasis"><em>next</em></span> operation will be applied to all
tagged messages if that operation can be used in that manner.  If the
<a class="link" href="#auto-tag" title="3.17. auto_tag">$auto_tag</a> variable is set, the next
operation applies to the tagged messages automatically, without
requiring the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">tag-prefix</span>”</span>.
</p><p>
In <a class="link" href="#macro" title="8. Keyboard Macros"><span class="command"><strong>macro</strong></span>s</a> or <a class="link" href="#push" title="22. Adding Key Sequences to the Keyboard Buffer"><span class="command"><strong>push</strong></span></a> commands, you can use the
<code class="literal">&lt;tag-prefix-cond&gt;</code> operator.  If there are no
tagged messages, Mutt will <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">eat</span>”</span> the rest of the macro to
abort it's execution.  Mutt will stop <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">eating</span>”</span> the macro
when it encounters the <code class="literal">&lt;end-cond&gt;</code> operator;
after this operator the rest of the macro will be executed as normal.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="hooks"></a>5. Using Hooks</h2></div></div></div><p>
A <span class="emphasis"><em>hook</em></span> is a concept found in many other programs
which allows you to execute arbitrary commands before performing some
operation.  For example, you may wish to tailor your configuration based
upon which mailbox you are reading, or to whom you are sending mail.  In
the Mutt world, a <span class="emphasis"><em>hook</em></span> consists of a <a class="link" href="#regexp" title="2. Regular Expressions">regular expression</a> or <a class="link" href="#patterns" title="3. Patterns: Searching, Limiting and Tagging">pattern</a> along with a configuration
option/command.  See:

</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="link" href="#account-hook" title="6. Managing Multiple Accounts"><span class="command"><strong>account-hook</strong></span></a>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="link" href="#charset-hook" title="6. Defining Aliases for Character Sets"><span class="command"><strong>charset-hook</strong></span></a>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="link" href="#crypt-hook" title="21. Choosing the Cryptographic Key of the Recipient"><span class="command"><strong>crypt-hook</strong></span></a>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="link" href="#fcc-hook" title="17. Specify Default Fcc: Mailbox When Composing"><span class="command"><strong>fcc-hook</strong></span></a>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="link" href="#fcc-save-hook" title="18. Specify Default Save Filename and Default Fcc: Mailbox at Once"><span class="command"><strong>fcc-save-hook</strong></span></a>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="link" href="#folder-hook" title="7. Setting Variables Based Upon Mailbox"><span class="command"><strong>folder-hook</strong></span></a>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="link" href="#iconv-hook"><span class="command"><strong>iconv-hook</strong></span></a>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="link" href="#mbox-hook" title="13. Using Multiple Spool Mailboxes"><span class="command"><strong>mbox-hook</strong></span></a>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="link" href="#message-hook" title="20. Change Settings Before Formatting a Message"><span class="command"><strong>message-hook</strong></span></a>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="link" href="#reply-hook"><span class="command"><strong>reply-hook</strong></span></a>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="link" href="#save-hook" title="16. Specify Default Save Mailbox"><span class="command"><strong>save-hook</strong></span></a>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="link" href="#send-hook" title="19. Change Settings Based Upon Message Recipients"><span class="command"><strong>send-hook</strong></span></a>
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="link" href="#send2-hook"><span class="command"><strong>send2-hook</strong></span></a>
</p></li></ul></div><p>

for specific details on each type of <span class="emphasis"><em>hook</em></span> available.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
If a hook changes configuration settings, these changes remain effective
until the end of the current Mutt session. As this is generally not
desired, a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">default</span>”</span> hook needs to be added before all
other hooks of that type to restore configuration defaults.
</p></div><div class="example"><a id="ex-default-hook"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 4.3. Specifying a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">default</span>”</span> hook</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
send-hook . 'unmy_hdr From:'
send-hook ~C'^b@b\.b$' my_hdr from: c@c.c
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
In <a class="xref" href="#ex-default-hook" title="Example 4.3. Specifying a “default” hook">Example 4.3, “Specifying a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">default</span>”</span> hook”</a>, by default the value of <a class="link" href="#from" title="3.77. from">$from</a> and <a class="link" href="#realname" title="3.215. realname">$realname</a> is not overridden. When sending
messages either To: or Cc: to <code class="literal">&lt;b@b.b&gt;</code>, the
From: header is changed to <code class="literal">&lt;c@c.c&gt;</code>.
</p><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pattern-hook"></a>5.1. Message Matching in Hooks</h3></div></div></div><p>
Hooks that act upon messages (<span class="command"><strong>message-hook</strong></span>,
<span class="command"><strong>reply-hook</strong></span>, <span class="command"><strong>send-hook</strong></span>,
<span class="command"><strong>send2-hook</strong></span>, <span class="command"><strong>save-hook</strong></span>,
<span class="command"><strong>fcc-hook</strong></span>) are evaluated in a slightly different
manner. For the other types of hooks, a <a class="link" href="#regexp" title="2. Regular Expressions">regular
expression</a> is sufficient.  But in dealing with messages a finer
grain of control is needed for matching since for different purposes you
want to match different criteria.
</p><p>
Mutt allows the use of the <a class="link" href="#patterns" title="3. Patterns: Searching, Limiting and Tagging">search
pattern</a> language for matching messages in hook commands.  This
works in exactly the same way as it would when
<span class="emphasis"><em>limiting</em></span> or <span class="emphasis"><em>searching</em></span> the
mailbox, except that you are restricted to those operators which match
information Mutt extracts from the header of the message (i.e., from,
to, cc, date, subject, etc.).
</p><p>
For example, if you wanted to set your return address based upon sending
mail to a specific address, you could do something like:
</p><pre class="screen">
send-hook '~t ^me@cs\.hmc\.edu$' 'my_hdr From: Mutt User &lt;user@host&gt;'
</pre><p>
which would execute the given command when sending mail to
<span class="emphasis"><em>me@cs.hmc.edu</em></span>.
</p><p>
However, it is not required that you write the pattern to match using
the full searching language.  You can still specify a simple
<span class="emphasis"><em>regular expression</em></span> like the other hooks, in which
case Mutt will translate your pattern into the full language, using the
translation specified by the <a class="link" href="#default-hook" title="3.50. default_hook">$default_hook</a> variable.  The pattern is
translated at the time the hook is declared, so the value of <a class="link" href="#default-hook" title="3.50. default_hook">$default_hook</a> that is in effect at that
time will be used.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mailbox-hook"></a>5.2. Mailbox Matching in Hooks</h3></div></div></div><p>
Hooks that match against mailboxes (<span class="command"><strong>folder-hook</strong></span>,
<span class="command"><strong>mbox-hook</strong></span>) apply both <a class="link" href="#regexp" title="2. Regular Expressions">regular
expression</a> syntax as well as <a class="link" href="#shortcuts" title="8. Mailbox Shortcuts">mailbox
shortcut</a> expansion on the regexp parameter.  There is some
overlap between these, so special attention should be paid to the first
character of the regexp.
</p><pre class="screen">
# Here, ^ will expand to "the current mailbox" not "beginning of string":
folder-hook ^/home/user/Mail/bar "set sort=threads"

# If you want ^ to be interpreted as "beginning of string", one workaround
# is to enclose the regexp in parenthesis:
folder-hook (^/home/user/Mail/bar) "set sort=threads"

# This will expand to the default save folder for the alias "imap.example.com", which
# is probably not what you want:
folder-hook @imap.example.com "set sort=threads"

# A workaround is to use parenthesis or a backslash:
folder-hook (@imap.example.com) "set sort=threads"
folder-hook '\@imap.example.com' "set sort=threads"
</pre><p>
Keep in mind that mailbox shortcut expansion on the regexp parameter
takes place when the hook is initially parsed, not when the hook is
matching against a mailbox.  When Mutt starts up and is reading the
.muttrc, some mailbox shortcuts may not be usable.  For example, the
"current mailbox" shortcut, ^, will expand to an empty string because no
mailbox has been opened yet.  Mutt will issue an error for this case or
if the mailbox shortcut results in an empty regexp.
</p></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="query"></a>6. External Address Queries</h2></div></div></div><p>
Mutt supports connecting to external directory databases such as LDAP,
ph/qi, bbdb, or NIS through a wrapper script which connects to Mutt
using a simple interface.  Using the <a class="link" href="#query-command" title="3.209. query_command">$query_command</a> variable, you specify the
wrapper command to use.  For example:
</p><pre class="screen">
set query_command = "mutt_ldap_query.pl %s"
</pre><p>
The wrapper script should accept the query on the command-line.  It
should return a one line message, then each matching response on a
single line, each line containing a tab separated address then name then
some other optional information.  On error, or if there are no matching
addresses, return a non-zero exit code and a one line error message.
</p><p>
An example multiple response output:
</p><pre class="screen">
Searching database ... 20 entries ... 3 matching:
me@cs.hmc.edu           Michael Elkins  mutt dude
blong@fiction.net       Brandon Long    mutt and more
roessler@does-not-exist.org        Thomas Roessler mutt pgp
</pre><p>
There are two mechanisms for accessing the query function of Mutt.  One
is to do a query from the index menu using the
<code class="literal">&lt;query&gt;</code> function (default: Q).  This will
prompt for a query, then bring up the query menu which will list the
matching responses.  From the query menu, you can select addresses to
create aliases, or to mail.  You can tag multiple addresses to mail,
start a new query, or have a new query appended to the current
responses.
</p><p>
The other mechanism for accessing the query function is for address
completion, similar to the alias completion.  In any prompt for address
entry, you can use the <code class="literal">&lt;complete-query&gt;</code>
function (default: ^T) to run a query based on the current address you
have typed.  Like aliases, Mutt will look for what you have typed back
to the last space or comma.  If there is a single response for that
query, Mutt will expand the address in place.  If there are multiple
responses, Mutt will activate the query menu.  At the query menu, you
can select one or more addresses to be added to the prompt.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="mailbox-formats"></a>7. Mailbox Formats</h2></div></div></div><p>
Mutt supports reading and writing of four different local mailbox
formats: mbox, MMDF, MH and Maildir.  The mailbox type is auto detected,
so there is no need to use a flag for different mailbox types.  When
creating new mailboxes, Mutt uses the default specified with the <a class="link" href="#mbox-type" title="3.131. mbox_type">$mbox_type</a> variable. A short description of
the formats follows.
</p><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>mbox</em></span>.  This is a widely used mailbox format for
UNIX.  All messages are stored in a single file.  Each message has a
line of the form:
</p><pre class="screen">
From me@cs.hmc.edu Fri, 11 Apr 1997 11:44:56 PST
</pre><p>
to denote the start of a new message (this is often referred to as the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">From_</span>”</span> line). The mbox format requires mailbox locking, is
prone to mailbox corruption with concurrently writing clients or
misinterpreted From_ lines. Depending on the environment, new mail
detection can be unreliable. Mbox folders are fast to open and easy to
archive.
</p><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>MMDF</em></span>.  This is a variant of the
<span class="emphasis"><em>mbox</em></span> format.  Each message is surrounded by lines
containing <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">^A^A^A^A</span>”</span> (four times control-A's). The same
problems as for mbox apply (also with finding the right message
separator as four control-A's may appear in message bodies).
</p><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>MH</em></span>. A radical departure from
<span class="emphasis"><em>mbox</em></span> and <span class="emphasis"><em>MMDF</em></span>, a mailbox
consists of a directory and each message is stored in a separate file.
The filename indicates the message number (however, this is may not
correspond to the message number Mutt displays). Deleted messages are
renamed with a comma (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">,</span>”</span>) prepended to the filename. Mutt
detects this type of mailbox by looking for either
<code class="literal">.mh_sequences</code> or <code class="literal">.xmhcache</code> files
(needed to distinguish normal directories from MH mailboxes). MH is more
robust with concurrent clients writing the mailbox, but still may suffer
from lost flags; message corruption is less likely to occur than with
mbox/mmdf. It's usually slower to open compared to mbox/mmdf since many
small files have to be read (Mutt provides <a class="xref" href="#header-caching" title="7.1. Header Caching">Section 7.1, “Header Caching”</a> to greatly speed this process up).  Depending
on the environment, MH is not very disk-space efficient.
</p><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>Maildir</em></span>.  The newest of the mailbox formats, used
by the Qmail MTA (a replacement for sendmail).  Similar to
<span class="emphasis"><em>MH</em></span>, except that it adds three subdirectories of the
mailbox: <span class="emphasis"><em>tmp</em></span>, <span class="emphasis"><em>new</em></span> and
<span class="emphasis"><em>cur</em></span>.  Filenames for the messages are chosen in such
a way they are unique, even when two programs are writing the mailbox
over NFS, which means that no file locking is needed and corruption is
very unlikely. Maildir maybe slower to open without caching in Mutt, it
too is not very disk-space efficient depending on the environment. Since
no additional files are used for metadata (which is embedded in the
message filenames) and Maildir is locking-free, it's easy to sync across
different machines using file-level synchronization tools.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="shortcuts"></a>8. Mailbox Shortcuts</h2></div></div></div><p>
There are a number of built in shortcuts which refer to specific
mailboxes.  These shortcuts can be used anywhere you are prompted for a
file or mailbox path or in path-related configuration variables. Note
that these only work at the beginning of a string.
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-mailbox-shortcuts"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 4.7. Mailbox shortcuts</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Mailbox shortcuts" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Shortcut</th><th>Refers to...</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">!</code></td><td>your <a class="link" href="#spoolfile" title="3.277. spoolfile">$spoolfile</a> (incoming) mailbox</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&gt;</code></td><td>your <a class="link" href="#mbox" title="3.130. mbox">$mbox</a> file</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;</code></td><td>your <a class="link" href="#record" title="3.217. record">$record</a> file</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">^</code></td><td>the current mailbox</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">-</code> or <code class="literal">!!</code></td><td>the file you've last visited</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">~</code></td><td>your home directory</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">=</code> or <code class="literal">+</code></td><td>your <a class="link" href="#folder" title="3.68. folder">$folder</a> directory</td></tr><tr><td><span class="emphasis"><em>@alias</em></span></td><td>to the <a class="link" href="#save-hook" title="16. Specify Default Save Mailbox">default save folder</a> as determined by the address of the alias</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
For example, to store a copy of outgoing messages in the folder they
were composed in, a <a class="link" href="#folder-hook" title="7. Setting Variables Based Upon Mailbox"><span class="command"><strong>folder-hook</strong></span></a> can be used
to set <a class="link" href="#record" title="3.217. record">$record</a>:
</p><pre class="screen">
folder-hook . 'set record=^'</pre></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="using-lists"></a>9. Handling Mailing Lists</h2></div></div></div><p>
Mutt has a few configuration options that make dealing with large
amounts of mail easier.  The first thing you must do is to let Mutt know
what addresses you consider to be mailing lists (technically this does
not have to be a mailing list, but that is what it is most often used
for), and what lists you are subscribed to.  This is accomplished
through the use of the <a class="link" href="#lists" title="12. Mailing Lists"><span class="command"><strong>lists</strong></span>
and <span class="command"><strong>subscribe</strong></span></a> commands in your
<code class="literal">.muttrc</code>.
</p><p>
Now that Mutt knows what your mailing lists are, it can do several
things, the first of which is the ability to show the name of a list
through which you received a message (i.e., of a subscribed list) in the
<span class="emphasis"><em>index</em></span> menu display.  This is useful to distinguish
between personal and list mail in the same mailbox.  In the <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a> variable, the expando
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">%L</span>”</span> will print the string <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">To &lt;list&gt;</span>”</span>
when <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">list</span>”</span> appears in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">To</span>”</span> field, and
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Cc &lt;list&gt;</span>”</span> when it appears in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Cc</span>”</span>
field (otherwise it prints the name of the author).
</p><p>
Often times the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">To</span>”</span> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Cc</span>”</span> fields in
mailing list messages tend to get quite large. Most people do not bother
to remove the author of the message they reply to from the list,
resulting in two or more copies being sent to that person.  The
<code class="literal">&lt;list-reply&gt;</code> function, which by default is
bound to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">L</span>”</span> in the <span class="emphasis"><em>index</em></span> menu and
<span class="emphasis"><em>pager</em></span>, helps reduce the clutter by only replying to
the known mailing list addresses instead of all recipients (except as
specified by <code class="literal">Mail-Followup-To</code>, see below).
</p><p>
Mutt also supports the <code class="literal">Mail-Followup-To</code> header.  When
you send a message to a list of recipients which includes one or several
subscribed mailing lists, and if the <a class="link" href="#followup-to" title="3.70. followup_to">$followup_to</a> option is set, Mutt will
generate a Mail-Followup-To header which contains all the recipients to
whom you send this message, but not your address. This indicates that
group-replies or list-replies (also known as <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">followups</span>”</span>)
to this message should only be sent to the original recipients of the
message, and not separately to you - you'll receive your copy through
one of the mailing lists you are subscribed to.
</p><p>
Conversely, when group-replying or list-replying to a message which has
a <code class="literal">Mail-Followup-To</code> header, Mutt will respect this
header if the <a class="link" href="#honor-followup-to" title="3.94. honor_followup_to">$honor_followup_to</a> configuration
variable is set.  Using <a class="link" href="#list-reply">list-reply</a>
will in this case also make sure that the reply goes to the mailing
list, even if it's not specified in the list of recipients in the
<code class="literal">Mail-Followup-To</code>.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
When header editing is enabled, you can create a
<code class="literal">Mail-Followup-To</code> header manually.  Mutt will only
auto-generate this header if it doesn't exist when you send the message.
</p></div><p>
The other method some mailing list admins use is to generate a
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Reply-To</span>”</span> field which points back to the mailing list
address rather than the author of the message.  This can create problems
when trying to reply directly to the author in private, since most mail
clients will automatically reply to the address given in the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Reply-To</span>”</span> field.  Mutt uses the <a class="link" href="#reply-to" title="3.222. reply_to">$reply_to</a> variable to help decide which
address to use.  If set to <span class="emphasis"><em>ask-yes</em></span> or
<span class="emphasis"><em>ask-no</em></span>, you will be prompted as to whether or not
you would like to use the address given in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Reply-To</span>”</span>
field, or reply directly to the address given in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">From</span>”</span>
field.  When set to <span class="emphasis"><em>yes</em></span>, the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Reply-To</span>”</span> field will be used when present.
</p><p>
The <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X-Label:</span>”</span> header field can be used to further identify
mailing lists or list subject matter (or just to annotate messages
individually).  The <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a>
variable's <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">%y</span>”</span> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">%Y</span>”</span> expandos can be used
to expand <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X-Label:</span>”</span> fields in the index, and Mutt's
pattern-matcher can match regular expressions to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X-Label:</span>”</span>
fields with the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">~y</span>”</span> selector.  <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X-Label:</span>”</span> is
not a standard message header field, but it can easily be inserted by
procmail and other mail filtering agents.
</p><p>
Lastly, Mutt has the ability to <a class="link" href="#sort" title="3.271. sort">sort</a> the
mailbox into <a class="link" href="#threads" title="5.3. Threaded Mode">threads</a>.  A thread is a
group of messages which all relate to the same subject.  This is usually
organized into a tree-like structure where a message and all of its
replies are represented graphically.  If you've ever used a threaded
news client, this is the same concept.  It makes dealing with large
volume mailing lists easier because you can easily delete uninteresting
threads and quickly find topics of value.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="new-mail"></a>10. New Mail Detection</h2></div></div></div><p>
Mutt supports setups with multiple folders, allowing all of them to be
monitored for new mail (see <a class="xref" href="#mailboxes" title="14. Monitoring Incoming Mail">Section 14, “Monitoring Incoming Mail”</a> for details).
</p><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="new-mail-formats"></a>10.1. How New Mail Detection Works</h3></div></div></div><p>
For Mbox and Mmdf folders, new mail is detected by comparing access
and/or modification times of files: Mutt assumes a folder has new mail
if it wasn't accessed after it was last modified. Utilities like
<code class="literal">biff</code> or <code class="literal">frm</code> or any other program
which accesses the mailbox might cause Mutt to never detect new mail for
that mailbox if they do not properly reset the access time. Other
possible causes of Mutt not detecting new mail in these folders are
backup tools (updating access times) or filesystems mounted without
access time update support (for Linux systems, see the
<code class="literal">relatime</code> option).
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
Contrary to older Mutt releases, it now maintains the new mail status of
a folder by properly resetting the access time if the folder contains at
least one message which is neither read, nor deleted, nor marked as old.
</p></div><p>
In cases where new mail detection for Mbox or Mmdf folders appears to be
unreliable, the <a class="link" href="#check-mbox-size" title="3.26. check_mbox_size">$check_mbox_size</a>
option can be used to make Mutt track and consult file sizes for new
mail detection instead which won't work for size-neutral changes.
</p><p>
New mail for Maildir is assumed if there is one message in the
<code class="literal">new/</code> subdirectory which is not marked deleted (see
<a class="link" href="#maildir-trash" title="3.125. maildir_trash">$maildir_trash</a>). For MH folders, a
mailbox is considered having new mail if there's at least one message in
the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">unseen</span>”</span> sequence as specified by <a class="link" href="#mh-seq-unseen" title="3.143. mh_seq_unseen">$mh_seq_unseen</a>.
</p><p>
Mutt does not poll POP3 folders for new mail, it only periodically
checks the currently opened folder (if it's a POP3 folder).
</p><p>
For IMAP, by default Mutt uses recent message counts provided by the
server to detect new mail. If the <a class="link" href="#imap-idle" title="3.102. imap_idle">$imap_idle</a> option is set, it'll use the IMAP
IDLE extension if advertised by the server.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="new-mail-polling"></a>10.2. Polling For New Mail</h3></div></div></div><p>
When in the index menu and being idle (also see <a class="link" href="#timeout" title="3.302. timeout">$timeout</a>), Mutt periodically checks for new
mail in all folders which have been configured via the
<span class="command"><strong>mailboxes</strong></span> command. The interval depends on the folder
type: for local/IMAP folders it consults <a class="link" href="#mail-check" title="3.120. mail_check">$mail_check</a> and <a class="link" href="#pop-checkinterval" title="3.191. pop_checkinterval">$pop_checkinterval</a> for POP folders.
</p><p>
Outside the index menu the directory browser supports checking for new
mail using the <code class="literal">&lt;check-new&gt;</code> function which is
unbound by default. Pressing TAB will bring up a menu showing the files
specified by the <span class="command"><strong>mailboxes</strong></span> command, and indicate
which contain new messages. Mutt will automatically enter this mode when
invoked from the command line with the <code class="literal">-y</code> option.
</p><p>
For the pager, index and directory browser menus, Mutt contains the
<code class="literal">&lt;buffy-list&gt;</code> function (bound to
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">.</span>”</span> by default) which will print a list of folders with new
mail in the command line at the bottom of the screen.
</p><p>
For the index, by default Mutt displays the number of mailboxes with new
mail in the status bar, please refer to the <a class="link" href="#status-format" title="3.293. status_format">$status_format</a> variable for details.
</p><p>
When changing folders, Mutt fills the prompt with the first folder from
the mailboxes list containing new mail (if any), pressing
<code class="literal">&lt;Space&gt;</code> will cycle through folders with new
mail.  The (by default unbound) function
<code class="literal">&lt;next-unread-mailbox&gt;</code> in the index can be used
to immediately open the next folder with unread mail (if any).
</p></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="editing-threads"></a>11. Editing Threads</h2></div></div></div><p>
Mutt has the ability to dynamically restructure threads that are broken
either by misconfigured software or bad behavior from some
correspondents. This allows to clean your mailboxes from these
annoyances which make it hard to follow a discussion.
</p><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="link-threads"></a>11.1. Linking Threads</h3></div></div></div><p>
Some mailers tend to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">forget</span>”</span> to correctly set the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">In-Reply-To:</span>”</span> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">References:</span>”</span> headers when
replying to a message. This results in broken discussions because Mutt
has not enough information to guess the correct threading.  You can fix
this by tagging the reply, then moving to the parent message and using
the <code class="literal">&lt;link-threads&gt;</code> function (bound to &amp; by
default). The reply will then be connected to this parent message.
</p><p>
You can also connect multiple children at once, tagging them and using
the <code class="literal">&lt;tag-prefix&gt;</code> command (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">;</span>”</span>) or
the <a class="link" href="#auto-tag" title="3.17. auto_tag">$auto_tag</a> option.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="break-threads"></a>11.2. Breaking Threads</h3></div></div></div><p>
On mailing lists, some people are in the bad habit of starting a new
discussion by hitting <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">reply</span>”</span> to any message from the list
and changing the subject to a totally unrelated one.  You can fix such
threads by using the <code class="literal">&lt;break-thread&gt;</code> function
(bound by default to #), which will turn the subthread starting from the
current message into a whole different thread.
</p></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="dsn"></a>12. Delivery Status Notification (DSN) Support</h2></div></div></div><p>
RFC1894 defines a set of MIME content types for relaying information
about the status of electronic mail messages.  These can be thought of
as <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">return receipts.</span>”</span>
</p><p>
To support DSN, there are two variables. <a class="link" href="#dsn-notify" title="3.56. dsn_notify">$dsn_notify</a> is used to request receipts for
different results (such as failed message, message delivered, etc.).
<a class="link" href="#dsn-return" title="3.57. dsn_return">$dsn_return</a> requests how much of your
message should be returned with the receipt (headers or full message).
</p><p>
When using <a class="link" href="#sendmail" title="3.238. sendmail">$sendmail</a> for mail delivery,
you need to use either Berkeley sendmail 8.8.x (or greater) a MTA
supporting DSN command line options compatible to Sendmail: The -N and
-R options can be used by the mail client to make requests as to what
type of status messages should be returned. Please consider your MTA
documentation whether DSN is supported.
</p><p>
For SMTP delivery using <a class="link" href="#smtp-url" title="3.270. smtp_url">$smtp_url</a>, it
depends on the capabilities announced by the server whether Mutt will
attempt to request DSN or not.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="urlview"></a>13. Start a WWW Browser on URLs</h2></div></div></div><p>
If a message contains URLs, it is efficient to get a menu with all the
URLs and start a WWW browser on one of them.  This functionality is
provided by the external urlview program which can be retrieved at
<a class="ulink" href="ftp://ftp.mutt.org/mutt/contrib/" target="_top">ftp://ftp.mutt.org/mutt/contrib/</a>
and the configuration commands:
</p><pre class="screen">
macro index \cb |urlview\n
macro pager \cb |urlview\n
</pre></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="misc-topics"></a>14. Miscellany</h2></div></div></div><p>
This section documents various features that fit nowhere else.
</p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt><span class="term">
Address normalization
</span></dt><dd><p>
Mutt normalizes all e-mail addresses to the simplest form possible. If
an address contains a realname, the form <span class="emphasis"><em>Joe User
&lt;joe@example.com&gt;</em></span> is used and the pure e-mail address
without angle brackets otherwise, i.e. just
<span class="emphasis"><em>joe@example.com</em></span>.
</p><p>
This normalization affects all headers Mutt generates including aliases.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">
Initial folder selection
</span></dt><dd><p>
The folder Mutt opens at startup is determined as follows: the folder
specified in the <code class="literal">$MAIL</code> environment variable if
present. Otherwise, the value of <code class="literal">$MAILDIR</code> is taken
into account. If that isn't present either, Mutt takes the user's
mailbox in the mailspool as determined at compile-time (which may also
reside in the home directory). The <a class="link" href="#spoolfile" title="3.277. spoolfile">$spoolfile</a> setting overrides this
selection. Highest priority has the mailbox given with the
<code class="literal">-f</code> command line option.
</p></dd></dl></div></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="mimesupport"></a>Chapter 5. Mutt's MIME Support</h1></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#using-mime">1. Using MIME in Mutt</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mime-overview">1.1. MIME Overview</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mime-pager">1.2. Viewing MIME Messages in the Pager</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#attach-menu">1.3. The Attachment Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#compose-menu">1.4. The Compose Menu</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#mime-types">2. MIME Type Configuration with <code class="literal">mime.types</code></a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#mailcap">3. MIME Viewer Configuration with Mailcap</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mailcap-basics">3.1. The Basics of the Mailcap File</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#secure-mailcap">3.2. Secure Use of Mailcap</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#advanced-mailcap">3.3. Advanced Mailcap Usage</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mailcap-example">3.4. Example Mailcap Files</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#auto-view">4. MIME Autoview</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#alternative-order">5. MIME Multipart/Alternative</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#attachments">6. Attachment Searching and Counting</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#mime-lookup">7. MIME Lookup</a></span></dt></dl></div><p>
Quite a bit of effort has been made to make Mutt the premier text-mode
MIME MUA.  Every effort has been made to provide the functionality that
the discerning MIME user requires, and the conformance to the standards
wherever possible.  When configuring Mutt for MIME, there are two extra
types of configuration files which Mutt uses.  One is the
<code class="literal">mime.types</code> file, which contains the mapping of file
extensions to IANA MIME types.  The other is the
<code class="literal">mailcap</code> file, which specifies the external commands
to use for handling specific MIME types.
</p><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="using-mime"></a>1. Using MIME in Mutt</h2></div></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mime-overview"></a>1.1. MIME Overview</h3></div></div></div><p>
MIME is short for <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension</span>”</span>
and describes mechanisms to internationalize and structure mail
messages. Before the introduction of MIME, messages had a single text
part and were limited to us-ascii header and content. With MIME,
messages can have attachments (and even attachments which itself have
attachments and thus form a tree structure), nearly arbitrary characters
can be used for sender names, recipients and subjects.
</p><p>
Besides the handling of non-ascii characters in message headers, to Mutt
the most important aspect of MIME are so-called MIME types. These are
constructed using a <span class="emphasis"><em>major</em></span> and
<span class="emphasis"><em>minor</em></span> type separated by a forward slash.  These
specify details about the content that follows. Based upon these, Mutt
decides how to handle this part. The most popular major type is
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">text</code></span>”</span> with minor types for plain text,
HTML and various other formats. Major types also exist for images,
audio, video and of course general application data (e.g. to separate
cryptographically signed data with a signature, send office documents,
and in general arbitrary binary data). There's also the
<code class="literal">multipart</code> major type which represents the root of a
subtree of MIME parts. A list of supported MIME types can be found in
<a class="xref" href="#supported-mime-types" title="Table 5.1. Supported MIME types">Table 5.1, “Supported MIME types”</a>.
</p><p>
MIME also defines a set of encoding schemes for transporting MIME
content over the network: <code class="literal">7bit</code>,
<code class="literal">8bit</code>, <code class="literal">quoted-printable</code>,
<code class="literal">base64</code> and <code class="literal">binary</code>. There're some
rules when to choose what for encoding headers and/or body (if needed),
and Mutt will in general make a good choice.
</p><p>
Mutt does most of MIME encoding/decoding behind the scenes to form
messages conforming to MIME on the sending side. On reception, it can be
flexibly configured as to how what MIME structure is displayed (and if
it's displayed): these decisions are based on the content's MIME type.
There are three areas/menus in dealing with MIME: the pager (while
viewing a message), the attachment menu and the compose menu.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mime-pager"></a>1.2. Viewing MIME Messages in the Pager</h3></div></div></div><p>
When you select a message from the index and view it in the pager, Mutt
decodes as much of a message as possible to a text representation.  Mutt
internally supports a number of MIME types, including the
<code class="literal">text</code> major type (with all minor types), the
<code class="literal">message/rfc822</code> (mail messages) type and some
<code class="literal">multipart</code> types. In addition, it recognizes a variety
of PGP MIME types, including PGP/MIME and
<code class="literal">application/pgp</code>.
</p><p>
Mutt will denote attachments with a couple lines describing them.
These lines are of the form:
</p><pre class="screen">
[-- Attachment #1: Description --]
[-- Type: text/plain, Encoding: 7bit, Size: 10000 --]
</pre><p>
Where the <span class="emphasis"><em>Description</em></span> is the description or
filename given for the attachment, and the <span class="emphasis"><em>Encoding</em></span>
is one of the already mentioned content encodings.
</p><p>
If Mutt cannot deal with a MIME type, it will display a message like:
</p><pre class="screen">
[-- image/gif is unsupported (use 'v' to view this part) --]
</pre></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="attach-menu"></a>1.3. The Attachment Menu</h3></div></div></div><p>
The default binding for <code class="literal">&lt;view-attachments&gt;</code> is
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">v</span>”</span>, which displays the attachment menu for a message.  The
attachment menu displays a list of the attachments in a message.  From
the attachment menu, you can save, print, pipe, delete, and view
attachments.  You can apply these operations to a group of attachments
at once, by tagging the attachments and by using the
<code class="literal">&lt;tag-prefix&gt;</code> operator.  You can also reply to
the current message from this menu, and only the current attachment (or
the attachments tagged) will be quoted in your reply.  You can view
attachments as text, or view them using the mailcap viewer definition
(the mailcap mechanism is explained later in detail).
</p><p>
Finally, you can apply the usual message-related functions (like <a class="link" href="#resend-message"><code class="literal">&lt;resend-message&gt;</code></a>,
and the <code class="literal">&lt;reply&gt;</code> and
<code class="literal">&lt;forward&gt;</code> functions) to attachments of type
<code class="literal">message/rfc822</code>.
</p><p>
See table <a class="xref" href="#tab-attachment-bindings" title="Table 9.7. Default Attachment Menu Bindings">Table 9.7, “Default Attachment Menu Bindings”</a> for all available
functions.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="compose-menu"></a>1.4. The Compose Menu</h3></div></div></div><p>
The compose menu is the menu you see before you send a message.  It
allows you to edit the recipient list, the subject, and other aspects of
your message.  It also contains a list of the attachments of your
message, including the main body.  From this menu, you can print, copy,
filter, pipe, edit, compose, review, and rename an attachment or a list
of tagged attachments.  You can also modifying the attachment
information, notably the type, encoding and description.
</p><p>
Attachments appear as follows by default:
</p><pre class="screen">
- 1 [text/plain, 7bit, 1K]           /tmp/mutt-euler-8082-0 &lt;no description&gt;
  2 [applica/x-gunzip, base64, 422K] ~/src/mutt-0.85.tar.gz &lt;no description&gt;
</pre><p>
The <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-</span>”</span> denotes that Mutt will delete the file after
sending (or postponing, or canceling) the message.  It can be toggled
with the <code class="literal">&lt;toggle-unlink&gt;</code> command (default: u).
The next field is the MIME content-type, and can be changed with the
<code class="literal">&lt;edit-type&gt;</code> command (default: ^T).  The next
field is the encoding for the attachment, which allows a binary message
to be encoded for transmission on 7bit links.  It can be changed with
the <code class="literal">&lt;edit-encoding&gt;</code> command (default: ^E).  The
next field is the size of the attachment, rounded to kilobytes or
megabytes.  The next field is the filename, which can be changed with
the <code class="literal">&lt;rename-file&gt;</code> command (default: R).  The
final field is the description of the attachment, and can be changed
with the <code class="literal">&lt;edit-description&gt;</code> command (default:
d). See <a class="link" href="#attach-format" title="3.13. attach_format">$attach_format</a> for a full
list of available expandos to format this display to your needs.
</p></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="mime-types"></a>2. MIME Type Configuration with <code class="literal">mime.types</code></h2></div></div></div><p>
To get most out of MIME, it's important that a MIME part's content type
matches the content as closely as possible so that the recipient's
client can automatically select the right viewer for the
content. However, there's no reliable for Mutt to know how to detect
every possible file type. Instead, it uses a simple plain text mapping
file that specifies what file extension corresponds to what MIME
type. This file is called <code class="literal">mime.types</code>.
</p><p>
When you add an attachment to your mail message, Mutt searches your
personal <code class="literal">mime.types</code> file at
<code class="literal">$HOME/.mime.types</code>, and then the system
<code class="literal">mime.types</code> file at
<code class="literal">/usr/local/share/mutt/mime.types</code> or
<code class="literal">/etc/mime.types</code>
</p><p>
Each line starts with the full MIME type, followed by a space and
space-separated list of file extensions. For example you could use:
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-mime-types"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 5.1. <code class="literal">mime.types</code></strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
application/postscript          ps eps
application/pgp                 pgp
audio/x-aiff                    aif aifc aiff
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
A sample <code class="literal">mime.types</code> file comes with the Mutt
distribution, and should contain most of the MIME types you are likely
to use.
</p><p>
If Mutt can not determine the MIME type by the extension of the file you
attach, it will look at the file.  If the file is free of binary
information, Mutt will assume that the file is plain text, and mark it
as <code class="literal">text/plain</code>.  If the file contains binary
information, then Mutt will mark it as
<code class="literal">application/octet-stream</code>.  You can change the MIME
type that Mutt assigns to an attachment by using the
<code class="literal">&lt;edit-type&gt;</code> command from the compose menu
(default: ^T), see <a class="xref" href="#supported-mime-types" title="Table 5.1. Supported MIME types">Table 5.1, “Supported MIME types”</a> for supported
major types. Mutt recognizes all of these if the appropriate entry is
found in the <code class="literal">mime.types</code> file. Non-recognized mime
types should only be used if the recipient of the message is likely to
be expecting such attachments.
</p><div class="table"><a id="supported-mime-types"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 5.1. Supported MIME types</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Supported MIME types" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>MIME major type</th><th>Standard</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">application</code></td><td>yes</td><td>General application data</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">audio</code></td><td>yes</td><td>Audio data</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">image</code></td><td>yes</td><td>Image data</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">message</code></td><td>yes</td><td>Mail messages, message status information</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">model</code></td><td>yes</td><td>VRML and other modeling data</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">multipart</code></td><td>yes</td><td>Container for other MIME parts</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">text</code></td><td>yes</td><td>Text data</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">video</code></td><td>yes</td><td>Video data</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">chemical</code></td><td>no</td><td>Mostly molecular data</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
MIME types are not arbitrary, they need to be assigned by <a class="ulink" href="http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/" target="_top">IANA</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="mailcap"></a>3. MIME Viewer Configuration with Mailcap</h2></div></div></div><p>
Mutt supports RFC 1524 MIME Configuration, in particular the Unix
specific format specified in Appendix A of RFC 1524.  This file format
is commonly referred to as the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">mailcap</span>”</span> format.  Many MIME
compliant programs utilize the mailcap format, allowing you to specify
handling for all MIME types in one place for all programs.  Programs
known to use this format include Firefox, lynx and metamail.
</p><p>
In order to handle various MIME types that Mutt doesn't have built-in
support for, it parses a series of external configuration files to find
an external handler. The default search string for these files is a
colon delimited list containing the following files:
</p><div class="orderedlist"><ol class="orderedlist" type="1"><li class="listitem"><p><code class="literal">$HOME/.mailcap</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p><code class="literal">$PKGDATADIR/mailcap</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p><code class="literal">$SYSCONFDIR/mailcap</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p><code class="literal">/etc/mailcap</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p><code class="literal">/usr/etc/mailcap</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p><code class="literal">/usr/local/etc/mailcap</code></p></li></ol></div><p>
where <code class="literal">$HOME</code> is your home directory. The
<code class="literal">$PKGDATADIR</code> and the <code class="literal">$SYSCONFDIR</code>
directories depend on where Mutt is installed: the former is the default
for shared data, the latter for system configuration files.
</p><p>
The default search path can be obtained by running the following
command:
</p><pre class="screen">
mutt -nF /dev/null -Q mailcap_path
</pre><p>
In particular, the metamail distribution will install a mailcap file,
usually as <code class="literal">/usr/local/etc/mailcap</code>, which contains
some baseline entries.
</p><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mailcap-basics"></a>3.1. The Basics of the Mailcap File</h3></div></div></div><p>
A mailcap file consists of a series of lines which are comments, blank,
or definitions.
</p><p>
A comment line consists of a # character followed by anything you want.
</p><p>
A blank line is blank.
</p><p>
A definition line consists of a content type, a view command, and any
number of optional fields.  Each field of a definition line is divided
by a semicolon <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">;</span>”</span> character.
</p><p>
The content type is specified in the MIME standard
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">type/subtype</span>”</span> notation.  For example,
<code class="literal">text/plain</code>, <code class="literal">text/html</code>,
<code class="literal">image/gif</code>, etc.  In addition, the mailcap format
includes two formats for wildcards, one using the special
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">*</span>”</span> subtype, the other is the implicit wild, where you only
include the major type.  For example, <code class="literal">image/*</code>, or
<code class="literal">video</code> will match all image types and video types,
respectively.
</p><p>
The view command is a Unix command for viewing the type specified. There
are two different types of commands supported. The default is to send
the body of the MIME message to the command on stdin. You can change
this behavior by using <code class="literal">%s</code> as a parameter to your view
command.  This will cause Mutt to save the body of the MIME message to a
temporary file, and then call the view command with the
<code class="literal">%s</code> replaced by the name of the temporary file. In
both cases, Mutt will turn over the terminal to the view program until
the program quits, at which time Mutt will remove the temporary file if
it exists. This means that mailcap does <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> work
out of the box with programs which detach themselves from the terminal
right after starting, like <code class="literal">open</code> on Mac OS X. In order
to nevertheless use these programs with mailcap, you probably need
custom shell scripts.
</p><p>
So, in the simplest form, you can send a <code class="literal">text/plain</code>
message to the external pager more on standard input:
</p><pre class="screen">
text/plain; more
</pre><p>
Or, you could send the message as a file:
</p><pre class="screen">
text/plain; more %s
</pre><p>
Perhaps you would like to use lynx to interactively view a
<code class="literal">text/html</code> message:
</p><pre class="screen">
text/html; lynx %s
</pre><p>
In this case, lynx does not support viewing a file from standard input,
so you must use the <code class="literal">%s</code> syntax.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>Some older versions of lynx contain a bug where they will
check the mailcap file for a viewer for <code class="literal">text/html</code>.
They will find the line which calls lynx, and run it.  This causes lynx
to continuously spawn itself to view the object.</em></span>
</p></div><p>
On the other hand, maybe you don't want to use lynx interactively, you
just want to have it convert the <code class="literal">text/html</code> to
<code class="literal">text/plain</code>, then you can use:
</p><pre class="screen">
text/html; lynx -dump %s | more
</pre><p>
Perhaps you wish to use lynx to view <code class="literal">text/html</code> files,
and a pager on all other text formats, then you would use the following:
</p><pre class="screen">
text/html; lynx %s
text/*; more
</pre></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="secure-mailcap"></a>3.2. Secure Use of Mailcap</h3></div></div></div><p>
The interpretation of shell meta-characters embedded in MIME parameters
can lead to security problems in general.  Mutt tries to quote
parameters in expansion of <code class="literal">%s</code> syntaxes properly, and
avoids risky characters by substituting them, see the <a class="link" href="#mailcap-sanitize" title="3.123. mailcap_sanitize">$mailcap_sanitize</a> variable.
</p><p>
Although Mutt's procedures to invoke programs with mailcap seem to be
safe, there are other applications parsing mailcap, maybe taking less
care of it.  Therefore you should pay attention to the following rules:
</p><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>Keep the %-expandos away from shell quoting.</em></span> Don't
quote them with single or double quotes.  Mutt does this for you, the
right way, as should any other program which interprets mailcap.  Don't
put them into backtick expansions.  Be highly careful with evil
statements, and avoid them if possible at all.  Trying to fix broken
behavior with quotes introduces new leaks — there is no
alternative to correct quoting in the first place.
</p><p>
If you have to use the %-expandos' values in context where you need
quoting or backtick expansions, put that value into a shell variable and
reference the shell variable where necessary, as in the following
example (using <code class="literal">$charset</code> inside the backtick expansion
is safe, since it is not itself subject to any further expansion):
</p><pre class="screen">
text/test-mailcap-bug; cat %s; copiousoutput; test=charset=%{charset} \
        &amp;&amp; test "`echo $charset | tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]'`" != iso-8859-1
</pre></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="advanced-mailcap"></a>3.3. Advanced Mailcap Usage</h3></div></div></div><div class="sect3"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="optional-mailcap-fields"></a>3.3.1. Optional Fields</h4></div></div></div><p>
In addition to the required content-type and view command fields, you
can add semi-colon <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">;</span>”</span> separated fields to set flags and
other options.  Mutt recognizes the following optional fields:
</p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt><span class="term">copiousoutput</span></dt><dd><p>
This flag tells Mutt that the command passes possibly large amounts of
text on standard output.  This causes Mutt to invoke a pager (either
the internal pager or the external pager defined by the pager variable)
on the output of the view command.  Without this flag, Mutt assumes that
the command is interactive.  One could use this to replace the pipe to
<code class="literal">more</code> in the <code class="literal">lynx -dump</code> example in
the Basic section:
</p><pre class="screen">
text/html; lynx -dump %s ; copiousoutput
</pre><p>
This will cause lynx to format the <code class="literal">text/html</code> output
as <code class="literal">text/plain</code> and Mutt will use your standard pager
to display the results.
</p><p>
Note that when using the built-in pager, <span class="emphasis"><em>only</em></span>
entries with this flag will be considered a handler for a MIME type
— all other entries will be ignored.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">needsterminal</span></dt><dd><p>
Mutt uses this flag when viewing attachments with <a class="link" href="#auto-view" title="4. MIME Autoview"><span class="command"><strong>auto_view</strong></span></a>, in order to
decide whether it should honor the setting of the <a class="link" href="#wait-key" title="3.318. wait_key">$wait_key</a> variable or not.  When an attachment
is viewed using an interactive program, and the corresponding mailcap
entry has a <span class="emphasis"><em>needsterminal</em></span> flag, Mutt will use <a class="link" href="#wait-key" title="3.318. wait_key">$wait_key</a> and the exit status of the program
to decide if it will ask you to press a key after the external program
has exited.  In all other situations it will not prompt you for a key.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">compose=&lt;command&gt;</span></dt><dd><p>
This flag specifies the command to use to create a new attachment of a
specific MIME type.  Mutt supports this from the compose menu.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">composetyped=&lt;command&gt;</span></dt><dd><p>
This flag specifies the command to use to create a new attachment of a
specific MIME type.  This command differs from the compose command in
that Mutt will expect standard MIME headers on the data.  This can be
used to specify parameters, filename, description, etc. for a new
attachment.  Mutt supports this from the compose menu.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">print=&lt;command&gt;</span></dt><dd><p>
This flag specifies the command to use to print a specific MIME type.
Mutt supports this from the attachment and compose menus.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">edit=&lt;command&gt;</span></dt><dd><p>
This flag specifies the command to use to edit a specific MIME type.
Mutt supports this from the compose menu, and also uses it to compose
new attachments.  Mutt will default to the defined <a class="link" href="#editor" title="3.60. editor">$editor</a> for text attachments.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">nametemplate=&lt;template&gt;</span></dt><dd><p>
This field specifies the format for the file denoted by
<code class="literal">%s</code> in the command fields.  Certain programs will
require a certain file extension, for instance, to correctly view a
file.  For instance, lynx will only interpret a file as
<code class="literal">text/html</code> if the file ends in
<code class="literal">.html</code>.  So, you would specify lynx as a
<code class="literal">text/html</code> viewer with a line in the mailcap file
like:
</p><pre class="screen">
text/html; lynx %s; nametemplate=%s.html
</pre></dd><dt><span class="term">test=&lt;command&gt;</span></dt><dd><p>
This field specifies a command to run to test whether this mailcap entry
should be used.  The command is defined with the command expansion rules
defined in the next section.  If the command returns 0, then the test
passed, and Mutt uses this entry.  If the command returns non-zero, then
the test failed, and Mutt continues searching for the right entry.  Note
that the content-type must match before Mutt performs the test.  For
example:
</p><pre class="screen">
text/html; firefox -remote 'openURL(%s)' ; test=RunningX
text/html; lynx %s
</pre><p>
In this example, Mutt will run the program <code class="literal">RunningX</code>
which will return 0 if the X Window manager is running, and non-zero if
it isn't.  If <code class="literal">RunningX</code> returns 0, then Mutt will run
firefox to display the <code class="literal">text/html</code> object.  If RunningX
doesn't return 0, then Mutt will go on to the next entry and use lynx to
display the <code class="literal">text/html</code> object.
</p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="sect3"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="mailcap-search-order"></a>3.3.2. Search Order</h4></div></div></div><p>
When searching for an entry in the mailcap file, Mutt will search for
the most useful entry for its purpose.  For instance, if you are
attempting to print an <code class="literal">image/gif</code>, and you have the
following entries in your mailcap file, Mutt will search for an entry
with the print command:
</p><pre class="screen">
image/*;        xv %s
image/gif;      ; print= anytopnm %s | pnmtops | lpr; \
                nametemplate=%s.gif
</pre><p>
Mutt will skip the <code class="literal">image/*</code> entry and use the
<code class="literal">image/gif</code> entry with the print command.
</p><p>
In addition, you can use this with <a class="link" href="#auto-view" title="4. MIME Autoview"><span class="command"><strong>auto_view</strong></span></a> to denote two
commands for viewing an attachment, one to be viewed automatically, the
other to be viewed interactively from the attachment menu using the
<code class="literal">&lt;view-mailcap&gt;</code> function (bound to
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">m</span>”</span> by default). In addition, you can then use the test
feature to determine which viewer to use interactively depending on your
environment.
</p><pre class="screen">
text/html;      firefox -remote 'openURL(%s)' ; test=RunningX
text/html;      lynx %s; nametemplate=%s.html
text/html;      lynx -dump %s; nametemplate=%s.html; copiousoutput
</pre><p>
For <a class="link" href="#auto-view" title="4. MIME Autoview"><span class="command"><strong>auto_view</strong></span></a>, Mutt
will choose the third entry because of the
<code class="literal">copiousoutput</code> tag.  For interactive viewing, Mutt
will run the program <code class="literal">RunningX</code> to determine if it
should use the first entry.  If the program returns non-zero, Mutt will
use the second entry for interactive viewing. The last entry is for
inline display in the pager and the
<code class="literal">&lt;view-attach&gt;</code> function in the attachment menu.
</p><p>
Entries with the <code class="literal">copiousoutput</code> tag should always be
specified as the last one per type. For non-interactive use, the last
entry will then actually be the first matching one with the tag set.
For non-interactive use, only <code class="literal">copiousoutput</code>-tagged
entries are considered. For interactive use, Mutt ignores this tag and
treats all entries equally. Therefore, if not specified last, all
following entries without this tag would never be considered for
<code class="literal">&lt;view-attach&gt;</code> because the
<code class="literal">copiousoutput</code> before them matched already.
</p></div><div class="sect3"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a id="mailcap-command-expansion"></a>3.3.3. Command Expansion</h4></div></div></div><p>
The various commands defined in the mailcap files are passed to the
<code class="literal">/bin/sh</code> shell using the <code class="literal">system(3)</code>
function.  Before the command is passed to <code class="literal">/bin/sh
-c</code>, it is parsed to expand various special parameters with
information from Mutt.  The keywords Mutt expands are:
</p><div class="variablelist"><dl class="variablelist"><dt><span class="term">%s</span></dt><dd><p>
As seen in the basic mailcap section, this variable is expanded to a
filename specified by the calling program.  This file contains the body
of the message to view/print/edit or where the composing program should
place the results of composition.  In addition, the use of this keyword
causes Mutt to not pass the body of the message to the view/print/edit
program on stdin.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">%t</span></dt><dd><p>
Mutt will expand <code class="literal">%t</code> to the text representation of the
content type of the message in the same form as the first parameter of
the mailcap definition line, i.e. <code class="literal">text/html</code> or
<code class="literal">image/gif</code>.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">%{&lt;parameter&gt;}</span></dt><dd><p>
Mutt will expand this to the value of the specified parameter from the
Content-Type: line of the mail message.  For instance, if your mail
message contains:
</p><pre class="screen">
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
</pre><p>
then Mutt will expand <code class="literal">%{charset}</code> to
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">iso-8859-1</span>”</span>.  The default metamail mailcap file uses this
feature to test the charset to spawn an xterm using the right charset to
view the message.
</p></dd><dt><span class="term">\%</span></dt><dd><p>
This will be replaced by a literal <code class="literal">%</code>.
</p></dd></dl></div><p>
Mutt does not currently support the <code class="literal">%F</code> and
<code class="literal">%n</code> keywords specified in RFC 1524.  The main purpose
of these parameters is for multipart messages, which is handled
internally by Mutt.
</p></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mailcap-example"></a>3.4. Example Mailcap Files</h3></div></div></div><p>
This mailcap file is fairly simple and standard:
</p><pre class="screen">
<span class="comment"># I'm always running X :)</span>
video/*;        xanim %s &gt; /dev/null
image/*;        xv %s &gt; /dev/null

<span class="comment"># I'm always running firefox (if my computer had more memory, maybe)</span>
text/html;      firefox -remote 'openURL(%s)'
</pre><p>
This mailcap file shows quite a number of examples:
</p><pre class="screen">
<span class="comment"># Use xanim to view all videos   Xanim produces a header on startup,
# send that to /dev/null so I don't see it</span>
video/*;        xanim %s &gt; /dev/null

<span class="comment"># Send html to a running firefox by remote</span>
text/html;      firefox -remote 'openURL(%s)'; test=RunningFirefox

<span class="comment"># If I'm not running firefox but I am running X, start firefox on the
# object</span>
text/html;      firefox %s; test=RunningX

<span class="comment"># Else use lynx to view it as text</span>
text/html;      lynx %s

<span class="comment"># This version would convert the text/html to text/plain</span>
text/html;      lynx -dump %s; copiousoutput

<span class="comment"># I use enscript to print text in two columns to a page</span>
text/*;         more %s; print=enscript -2Gr %s

<span class="comment"># Firefox adds a flag to tell itself to view jpegs internally</span>
image/jpeg;xv %s; x-mozilla-flags=internal

<span class="comment"># Use xv to view images if I'm running X</span>
<span class="comment"># In addition, this uses the \ to extend the line and set my editor</span>
<span class="comment"># for images</span>
image/*;xv %s; test=RunningX; \
        edit=xpaint %s

<span class="comment"># Convert images to text using the netpbm tools</span>
image/*;  (anytopnm %s | pnmscale -xysize 80 46 | ppmtopgm | pgmtopbm |
pbmtoascii -1x2 ) 2&gt;&amp;1 ; copiousoutput

<span class="comment"># Send excel spreadsheets to my NT box</span>
application/ms-excel; open.pl %s
</pre></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="auto-view"></a>4. MIME Autoview</h2></div></div></div><p>
Usage:
</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">auto_view</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mimetype</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>mimetype</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command">unauto_view</code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mimetype</code></em>
... }</p></div><p>
In addition to explicitly telling Mutt to view an attachment with the
MIME viewer defined in the mailcap file from the attachments menu, Mutt
has support for automatically viewing MIME attachments while in the
pager.
</p><p>
For this to work, you must define a viewer in the mailcap file which
uses the <code class="literal">copiousoutput</code> option to denote that it is
non-interactive.  Usually, you also use the entry to convert the
attachment to a text representation which you can view in the pager.
</p><p>
You then use the <span class="command"><strong>auto_view</strong></span> configuration command to
list the content-types that you wish to view automatically.  For
instance, if you set it to:
</p><pre class="screen">
auto_view text/html application/x-gunzip \
  application/postscript image/gif application/x-tar-gz
</pre><p>
...Mutt would try to find corresponding entries for rendering
attachments of these types as text. A corresponding mailcap could look
like:
</p><pre class="screen">
text/html;      lynx -dump %s; copiousoutput; nametemplate=%s.html
image/*;        anytopnm %s | pnmscale -xsize 80 -ysize 50 | ppmtopgm | \
                pgmtopbm | pbmtoascii ; copiousoutput
application/x-gunzip;   gzcat; copiousoutput
application/x-tar-gz; gunzip -c %s | tar -tf - ; copiousoutput
application/postscript; ps2ascii %s; copiousoutput
</pre><p>
<span class="command"><strong>unauto_view</strong></span> can be used to remove previous entries
from the <span class="command"><strong>auto_view</strong></span> list.  This can be used with <a class="link" href="#message-hook" title="20. Change Settings Before Formatting a Message"><span class="command"><strong>message-hook</strong></span></a> to
autoview messages based on size, etc.
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><span class="command"><strong>unauto_view</strong></span> *</span>”</span> will remove all previous
entries.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="alternative-order"></a>5. MIME Multipart/Alternative</h2></div></div></div><p>
The <code class="literal">multipart/alternative</code> container type only has
child MIME parts which represent the same content in an alternative
way. This is often used to send HTML messages which contain an
alternative plain text representation.
</p><p>
Mutt has some heuristics for determining which attachment of a
<code class="literal">multipart/alternative</code> type to display:
</p><div class="orderedlist"><ol class="orderedlist" type="1"><li class="listitem"><p>
First, Mutt will check the <span class="command"><strong>alternative_order</strong></span> list to
determine if one of the available types is preferred.  It consists of a
number of MIME types in order, including support for implicit and
explicit wildcards. For example:
</p><pre class="screen">
alternative_order text/enriched text/plain text \
  application/postscript image/*
</pre></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Next, Mutt will check if any of the types have a defined <a class="link" href="#auto-view" title="4. MIME Autoview"><span class="command"><strong>auto_view</strong></span></a>, and use that.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Failing that, Mutt will look for any text type.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
As a last attempt, Mutt will look for any type it knows how to handle.
</p></li></ol></div><p>
To remove a MIME type from the <span class="command"><strong>alternative_order</strong></span>
list, use the <span class="command"><strong>unalternative_order</strong></span> command.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="attachments"></a>6. Attachment Searching and Counting</h2></div></div></div><p>
If you ever lose track of attachments in your mailboxes, Mutt's
attachment-counting and -searching support might be for you.  You can
make your message index display the number of qualifying attachments in
each message, or search for messages by attachment count.  You also can
configure what kinds of attachments qualify for this feature with the
<span class="command"><strong>attachments</strong></span> and <span class="command"><strong>unattachments</strong></span>
commands.
</p><p>
In order to provide this information, Mutt needs to fully MIME-parse all
messages affected first. This can slow down operation especially for
remote mail folders such as IMAP because all messages have to be
downloaded first regardless whether the user really wants to view them
or not though using <a class="xref" href="#body-caching" title="7.2. Body Caching">Section 7.2, “Body Caching”</a> usually means to
download the message just once.
</p><p>
The syntax is:
</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">attachments</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>{ + | - }disposition</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mime-type</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command">unattachments</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>{ + | - }disposition</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mime-type</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command">attachments</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>?</code></em>
 </p></div><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>disposition</em></span> is the attachment's Content-Disposition
type — either <code class="literal">inline</code> or
<code class="literal">attachment</code>.  You can abbreviate this to
<code class="literal">I</code> or <code class="literal">A</code>.
</p><p>
Disposition is prefixed by either a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">+</span>”</span> symbol or a
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-</span>”</span> symbol.  If it's a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">+</span>”</span>, you're saying that
you want to allow this disposition and MIME type to qualify.  If it's a
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-</span>”</span>, you're saying that this disposition and MIME type is
an exception to previous <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">+</span>”</span> rules.  There are examples
below of how this is useful.
</p><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>mime-type</em></span> is the MIME type of the attachment you
want the command to affect.  A MIME type is always of the format
<code class="literal">major/minor</code>, where <code class="literal">major</code> describes
the broad category of document you're looking at, and
<code class="literal">minor</code> describes the specific type within that
category.  The major part of mime-type must be literal text (or the
special token <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">*</code></span>”</span>), but the minor part
may be a regular expression.  (Therefore,
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">*/.*</code></span>”</span> matches any MIME type.)
</p><p>
The MIME types you give to the <span class="command"><strong>attachments</strong></span> directive
are a kind of pattern.  When you use the <span class="command"><strong>attachments</strong></span>
directive, the patterns you specify are added to a list.  When you use
<span class="command"><strong>unattachments</strong></span>, the pattern is removed from the list.
The patterns are not expanded and matched to specific MIME types at this
time — they're just text in a list.  They're only matched when
actually evaluating a message.
</p><p>
Some examples might help to illustrate.  The examples that are not
commented out define the default configuration of the lists.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-attach-count"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 5.2. Attachment counting</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
<span class="comment">
# Removing a pattern from a list removes that pattern literally. It
# does not remove any type matching the pattern.
#
#  attachments   +A */.*
#  attachments   +A image/jpeg
#  unattachments +A */.*
#
# This leaves "attached" image/jpeg files on the allowed attachments
# list. It does not remove all items, as you might expect, because the
# second */.* is not a matching expression at this time.
#
# Remember: "unattachments" only undoes what "attachments" has done!
# It does not trigger any matching on actual messages.

# Qualify any MIME part with an "attachment" disposition, EXCEPT for
# text/x-vcard and application/pgp parts. (PGP parts are already known
# to mutt, and can be searched for with ~g, ~G, and ~k.)
#
# I've added x-pkcs7 to this, since it functions (for S/MIME)
# analogously to PGP signature attachments. S/MIME isn't supported
# in a stock mutt build, but we can still treat it specially here.
#
</span>
attachments   +A */.*
attachments   -A text/x-vcard application/pgp.*
attachments   -A application/x-pkcs7-.*

<span class="comment">
# Discount all MIME parts with an "inline" disposition, unless they're
# text/plain. (Why inline a text/plain part unless it's external to the
# message flow?)
</span>
attachments   +I text/plain

<span class="comment">
# These two lines make Mutt qualify MIME containers.  (So, for example,
# a message/rfc822 forward will count as an attachment.)  The first
# line is unnecessary if you already have "attach-allow */.*", of
# course.  These are off by default!  The MIME elements contained
# within a message/* or multipart/* are still examined, even if the
# containers themselves don't qualify.

#attachments  +A message/.* multipart/.*
#attachments  +I message/.* multipart/.*
</span>

<span class="comment">## You probably don't really care to know about deleted attachments.</span>
attachments   -A message/external-body
attachments   -I message/external-body
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
Entering the command <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><span class="command"><strong>attachments</strong></span> ?</span>”</span> as
a command will list your current settings in Muttrc format, so that it
can be pasted elsewhere.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="mime-lookup"></a>7. MIME Lookup</h2></div></div></div><p>
Usage:
</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">mime-lookup</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mimetype</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>mimetype</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command">unmime-lookup</code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mimetype</code></em>
... }</p></div><p>
Mutt's <span class="command"><strong>mime_lookup</strong></span> list specifies a list of MIME
types that should <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> be treated according to their
mailcap entry.  This option is designed to deal with binary types such
as <code class="literal">application/octet-stream</code>.  When an attachment's
MIME type is listed in <span class="command"><strong>mime_lookup</strong></span>, then the
extension of the filename will be compared to the list of extensions in
the <code class="literal">mime.types</code> file.  The MIME type associated with
this extension will then be used to process the attachment according to
the rules in the mailcap file and according to any other configuration
options (such as <span class="command"><strong>auto_view</strong></span>) specified.  Common usage
would be:
</p><pre class="screen">
mime_lookup application/octet-stream application/X-Lotus-Manuscript
</pre><p>
In addition, the <code class="literal">unmime_lookup</code> command may be used to
disable this feature for any particular MIME type if it had been set,
for example, in a global <code class="literal">.muttrc</code>.
</p></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="optionalfeatures"></a>Chapter 6. Optional Features</h1></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#optionalfeatures-notes">1. General Notes</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#compile-time-features">1.1. Enabling/Disabling Features</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#url-syntax">1.2. URL Syntax</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#ssl">2. SSL/TLS Support</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#pop">3. POP3 Support</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#imap">4. IMAP Support</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-browser">4.1. The IMAP Folder Browser</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-authentication">4.2. Authentication</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#smtp">5. SMTP Support</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#account-hook">6. Managing Multiple Accounts</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#caching">7. Local Caching</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#header-caching">7.1. Header Caching</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#body-caching">7.2. Body Caching</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#cache-dirs">7.3. Cache Directories</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#maint-cache">7.4. Maintenance</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#exact-address">8. Exact Address Generation</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#sending-mixmaster">9. Sending Anonymous Messages via Mixmaster</a></span></dt></dl></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="optionalfeatures-notes"></a>1. General Notes</h2></div></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="compile-time-features"></a>1.1. Enabling/Disabling Features</h3></div></div></div><p>
Mutt supports several of optional features which can be enabled or
disabled at compile-time by giving the <span class="emphasis"><em>configure</em></span>
script certain arguments. These are listed in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Optional
features</span>”</span> section of the <span class="emphasis"><em>configure --help</em></span>
output.
</p><p>
Which features are enabled or disabled can later be determined from the
output of <code class="literal">mutt -v</code>. If a compile option starts with
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">+</span>”</span> it is enabled and disabled if prefixed with
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-</span>”</span>. For example, if Mutt was compiled using GnuTLS for
encrypted communication instead of OpenSSL, <code class="literal">mutt -v</code>
would contain:
</p><pre class="screen">
-USE_SSL_OPENSSL +USE_SSL_GNUTLS</pre></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="url-syntax"></a>1.2. URL Syntax</h3></div></div></div><p>
Mutt optionally supports the IMAP, POP3 and SMTP protocols which require
to access servers using URLs. The canonical syntax for specifying URLs
in Mutt is (an item enclosed in <code class="literal">[]</code> means it is
optional and may be omitted):
</p><pre class="screen">
proto[s]://[username[:password]@]server[:port][/path]
</pre><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>proto</em></span> is the communication protocol:
<code class="literal">imap</code> for IMAP, <code class="literal">pop</code> for POP3 and
<code class="literal">smtp</code> for SMTP. If <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">s</span>”</span> for <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">secure
communication</span>”</span> is appended, Mutt will attempt to establish an
encrypted communication using SSL or TLS.
</p><p>
Since all protocols supported by Mutt support/require authentication,
login credentials may be specified in the URL. This has the advantage
that multiple IMAP, POP3 or SMTP servers may be specified (which isn't
possible using, for example, <a class="link" href="#imap-user" title="3.111. imap_user">$imap_user</a>). The username may contain the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">@</span>”</span> symbol being used by many mail systems as part of the
login name. The special characters <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">/</span>”</span>
(<code class="literal">%2F</code>), <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">:</span>”</span> (<code class="literal">%3A</code>) and
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">%</span>”</span> (<code class="literal">%25</code>) have to be URL-encoded in
usernames using the <code class="literal">%</code>-notation.
</p><p>
A password can be given, too but is not recommended if the URL is
specified in a configuration file on disk.
</p><p>
If no port number is given, Mutt will use the system's default for the
given protocol (usually consulting <code class="literal">/etc/services</code>).
</p><p>
The optional path is only relevant for IMAP and ignored elsewhere.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-url"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 6.1. URLs</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
pops://host/
imaps://user@host/INBOX/Sent
smtp://user@host:587/
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="ssl"></a>2. SSL/TLS Support</h2></div></div></div><p>
If Mutt is compiled with IMAP, POP3 and/or SMTP support, it can also be
compiled with support for SSL or TLS using either OpenSSL or GnuTLS ( by
running the <span class="emphasis"><em>configure</em></span> script with the
<span class="emphasis"><em>--enable-ssl=...</em></span> option for OpenSSL or
<span class="emphasis"><em>--enable-gnutls=...</em></span> for GnuTLS). Mutt can then
attempt to encrypt communication with remote servers if these protocols
are suffixed with <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">s</span>”</span> for <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">secure
communication</span>”</span>.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="pop"></a>3. POP3 Support</h2></div></div></div><p>
If Mutt is compiled with POP3 support (by running the
<span class="emphasis"><em>configure</em></span> script with the
<span class="emphasis"><em>--enable-pop</em></span> flag), it has the ability to work with
mailboxes located on a remote POP3 server and fetch mail for local
browsing.
</p><p>
Remote POP3 servers can be accessed using URLs with the
<code class="literal">pop</code> protocol for unencrypted and
<code class="literal">pops</code> for encrypted communication, see <a class="xref" href="#url-syntax" title="1.2. URL Syntax">Section 1.2, “URL Syntax”</a> for details.
</p><p>
Polling for new mail is more expensive over POP3 than locally. For this
reason the frequency at which Mutt will check for mail remotely can be
controlled by the <a class="link" href="#pop-checkinterval" title="3.191. pop_checkinterval">$pop_checkinterval</a> variable, which
defaults to every 60 seconds.
</p><p>
POP is read-only which doesn't allow for some features like editing
messages or changing flags. However, using <a class="xref" href="#header-caching" title="7.1. Header Caching">Section 7.1, “Header Caching”</a> and <a class="xref" href="#body-caching" title="7.2. Body Caching">Section 7.2, “Body Caching”</a> Mutt
simulates the new/old/read flags as well as flagged and replied.  Mutt
applies some logic on top of remote messages but cannot change them so
that modifications of flags are lost when messages are downloaded from
the POP server (either by Mutt or other tools).
</p><a id="fetch-mail"></a><p>
Another way to access your POP3 mail is the
<code class="literal">&lt;fetch-mail&gt;</code> function (default: G).  It allows
to connect to <a class="link" href="#pop-host" title="3.193. pop_host">$pop_host</a>, fetch all your
new mail and place it in the local <a class="link" href="#spoolfile" title="3.277. spoolfile">$spoolfile</a>.  After this point, Mutt runs
exactly as if the mail had always been local.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
If you only need to fetch all messages to a local mailbox you should
consider using a specialized program, such as
<code class="literal">fetchmail(1)</code>, <code class="literal">getmail(1)</code> or
similar.
</p></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="imap"></a>4. IMAP Support</h2></div></div></div><p>
If Mutt was compiled with IMAP support (by running the
<span class="emphasis"><em>configure</em></span> script with the
<span class="emphasis"><em>--enable-imap</em></span> flag), it has the ability to work
with folders located on a remote IMAP server.
</p><p>
You can access the remote inbox by selecting the folder by its URL (see
<a class="xref" href="#url-syntax" title="1.2. URL Syntax">Section 1.2, “URL Syntax”</a> for details) using the
<code class="literal">imap</code> or <code class="literal">imaps</code> protocol.
Alternatively, a pine-compatible notation is also supported, i.e.
<code class="literal">{[username@]imapserver[:port][/ssl]}path/to/folder</code>
</p><p>
Note that not all servers use <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">/</span>”</span> as the hierarchy
separator.  Mutt should correctly notice which separator is being used
by the server and convert paths accordingly.
</p><p>
When browsing folders on an IMAP server, you can toggle whether to look
at only the folders you are subscribed to, or all folders with the
<span class="emphasis"><em>toggle-subscribed</em></span> command.  See also the <a class="link" href="#imap-list-subscribed" title="3.104. imap_list_subscribed">$imap_list_subscribed</a> variable.
</p><p>
Polling for new mail on an IMAP server can cause noticeable delays. So,
you'll want to carefully tune the <a class="link" href="#mail-check" title="3.120. mail_check">$mail_check</a> and <a class="link" href="#timeout" title="3.302. timeout">$timeout</a> variables. Reasonable values are:
</p><pre class="screen">
set mail_check=90
set timeout=15
</pre><p>
with relatively good results even over slow modem lines.
</p><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
Note that if you are using mbox as the mail store on UW servers prior to
v12.250, the server has been reported to disconnect a client if another
client selects the same folder.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="imap-browser"></a>4.1. The IMAP Folder Browser</h3></div></div></div><p>
As of version 1.2, Mutt supports browsing mailboxes on an IMAP
server. This is mostly the same as the local file browser, with the
following differences:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>
In lieu of file permissions, Mutt displays the string
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">IMAP</span>”</span>, possibly followed by the symbol <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">+</span>”</span>,
indicating that the entry contains both messages and subfolders. On
Cyrus-like servers folders will often contain both messages and
subfolders.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
For the case where an entry can contain both messages and subfolders,
the selection key (bound to <code class="literal">enter</code> by default) will
choose to descend into the subfolder view. If you wish to view the
messages in that folder, you must use <code class="literal">view-file</code>
instead (bound to <code class="literal">space</code> by default).
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
You can create, delete and rename mailboxes with the
<code class="literal">&lt;create-mailbox&gt;</code>,
<code class="literal">&lt;delete-mailbox&gt;</code>, and
<code class="literal">&lt;rename-mailbox&gt;</code> commands (default bindings:
<code class="literal">C</code>, <code class="literal">d</code> and <code class="literal">r</code>,
respectively). You may also <code class="literal">&lt;subscribe&gt;</code> and
<code class="literal">&lt;unsubscribe&gt;</code> to mailboxes (normally these are
bound to <code class="literal">s</code> and <code class="literal">u</code>, respectively).
</p></li></ul></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="imap-authentication"></a>4.2. Authentication</h3></div></div></div><p>
Mutt supports four authentication methods with IMAP servers: SASL,
GSSAPI, CRAM-MD5, and LOGIN (there is a patch by Grant Edwards to add
NTLM authentication for you poor exchange users out there, but it has
yet to be integrated into the main tree). There is also support for the
pseudo-protocol ANONYMOUS, which allows you to log in to a public IMAP
server without having an account. To use ANONYMOUS, simply make your
username blank or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">anonymous</span>”</span>.
</p><p>
SASL is a special super-authenticator, which selects among several
protocols (including GSSAPI, CRAM-MD5, ANONYMOUS, and DIGEST-MD5) the
most secure method available on your host and the server. Using some of
these methods (including DIGEST-MD5 and possibly GSSAPI), your entire
session will be encrypted and invisible to those teeming network
snoops. It is the best option if you have it. To use it, you must have
the Cyrus SASL library installed on your system and compile Mutt with
the <span class="emphasis"><em>--with-sasl</em></span> flag.
</p><p>
Mutt will try whichever methods are compiled in and available on the
server, in the following order: SASL, ANONYMOUS, GSSAPI, CRAM-MD5,
LOGIN.
</p><p>
There are a few variables which control authentication:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="link" href="#imap-user" title="3.111. imap_user">$imap_user</a> - controls the username
under which you request authentication on the IMAP server, for all
authenticators. This is overridden by an explicit username in the
mailbox path (i.e. by using a mailbox name of the form
<code class="literal">{user@host}</code>).
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="link" href="#imap-pass" title="3.106. imap_pass">$imap_pass</a> - a password which you may
preset, used by all authentication methods where a password is needed.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
<a class="link" href="#imap-authenticators" title="3.98. imap_authenticators">$imap_authenticators</a> - a
colon-delimited list of IMAP authentication methods to try, in the order
you wish to try them. If specified, this overrides Mutt's default
(attempt everything, in the order listed above).
</p></li></ul></div></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="smtp"></a>5. SMTP Support</h2></div></div></div><p>
Besides supporting traditional mail delivery through a
sendmail-compatible program, Mutt supports delivery through SMTP if it
was configured and built with <code class="literal">--enable-smtp</code>.
</p><p>
If the configuration variable <a class="link" href="#smtp-url" title="3.270. smtp_url">$smtp_url</a>
is set, Mutt will contact the given SMTP server to deliver messages; if
it is unset, Mutt will use the program specified by <a class="link" href="#sendmail" title="3.238. sendmail">$sendmail</a>.
</p><p>
For details on the URL syntax, please see <a class="xref" href="#url-syntax" title="1.2. URL Syntax">Section 1.2, “URL Syntax”</a>.
</p><p>
The built-in SMTP support supports encryption (the
<code class="literal">smtps</code> protocol using SSL or TLS) as well as SMTP
authentication using SASL. The authentication mechanisms for SASL are
specified in <a class="link" href="#smtp-authenticators" title="3.268. smtp_authenticators">$smtp_authenticators</a> defaulting to
an empty list which makes Mutt try all available methods from
most-secure to least-secure.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="account-hook"></a>6. Managing Multiple Accounts</h2></div></div></div><p>
Usage:
</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">account-hook</code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>command</code></em>
 </p></div><p>
If you happen to have accounts on multiple IMAP, POP and/or SMTP
servers, you may find managing all the authentication settings
inconvenient and error-prone. The <a class="link" href="#account-hook" title="6. Managing Multiple Accounts"><span class="command"><strong>account-hook</strong></span></a> command
may help. This hook works like <a class="link" href="#folder-hook" title="7. Setting Variables Based Upon Mailbox"><span class="command"><strong>folder-hook</strong></span></a> but is
invoked whenever Mutt needs to access a remote mailbox (including inside
the folder browser), not just when you open the mailbox. This includes
(for example) polling for new mail, storing Fcc messages and saving
messages to a folder. As a consequence, <a class="link" href="#account-hook" title="6. Managing Multiple Accounts"><span class="command"><strong>account-hook</strong></span></a> should
only be used to set connection-related settings such as passwords or
tunnel commands but not settings such as sender address or name (because
in general it should be considered unpredictable which <a class="link" href="#account-hook" title="6. Managing Multiple Accounts"><span class="command"><strong>account-hook</strong></span></a> was last
used).
</p><p>
Some examples:
</p><pre class="screen">
account-hook . 'unset imap_user; unset imap_pass; unset tunnel'
account-hook imap://host1/ 'set imap_user=me1 imap_pass=foo'
account-hook imap://host2/ 'set tunnel="ssh host2 /usr/libexec/imapd"'
account-hook smtp://user@host3/ 'set tunnel="ssh host3 /usr/libexec/smtpd"'
</pre><p>
To manage multiple accounts with, for example, different values of <a class="link" href="#record" title="3.217. record">$record</a> or sender addresses, <a class="link" href="#folder-hook" title="7. Setting Variables Based Upon Mailbox"><span class="command"><strong>folder-hook</strong></span></a> has to be be
used together with the <a class="link" href="#mailboxes" title="14. Monitoring Incoming Mail"><span class="command"><strong>mailboxes</strong></span></a> command.
</p><div class="example"><a id="ex-multiaccount"></a><p class="title"><strong>Example 6.2. Managing multiple accounts</strong></p><div class="example-contents"><pre class="screen">
mailboxes imap://user@host1/INBOX
folder-hook imap://user@host1/ 'set folder=imap://host1/ ; set record=+INBOX/Sent'

mailboxes imap://user@host2/INBOX
folder-hook imap://user@host2/ 'set folder=imap://host2/ ; set record=+INBOX/Sent'
</pre></div></div><br class="example-break" /><p>
In example <a class="xref" href="#ex-multiaccount" title="Example 6.2. Managing multiple accounts">Example 6.2, “Managing multiple accounts”</a> the folders are defined
using <a class="link" href="#mailboxes" title="14. Monitoring Incoming Mail"><span class="command"><strong>mailboxes</strong></span></a> so
Mutt polls them for new mail. Each <a class="link" href="#folder-hook" title="7. Setting Variables Based Upon Mailbox"><span class="command"><strong>folder-hook</strong></span></a> triggers
when one mailbox below each IMAP account is opened and sets <a class="link" href="#folder" title="3.68. folder">$folder</a> to the account's root folder. Next, it
sets <a class="link" href="#record" title="3.217. record">$record</a> to the
<span class="emphasis"><em>INBOX/Sent</em></span> folder below the newly set <a class="link" href="#folder" title="3.68. folder">$folder</a>. Please notice that the value the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">+</span>”</span> <a class="link" href="#shortcuts" title="8. Mailbox Shortcuts">mailbox shortcut</a>
refers to depends on the <span class="emphasis"><em>current</em></span> value of <a class="link" href="#folder" title="3.68. folder">$folder</a> and therefore has to be set separately
per account. Setting other values like <a class="link" href="#from" title="3.77. from">$from</a>
or <a class="link" href="#signature" title="3.243. signature">$signature</a> is analogous to setting
<a class="link" href="#record" title="3.217. record">$record</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="caching"></a>7. Local Caching</h2></div></div></div><p>
Mutt contains two types of local caching: <span class="emphasis"><em>(1)</em></span> the
so-called <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">header caching</span>”</span> and <span class="emphasis"><em>(2)</em></span> the
so-called <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">body caching</span>”</span> which are both described in this
section.
</p><p>
Header caching is optional as it depends on external libraries, body
caching is always enabled if Mutt is compiled with POP and/or IMAP
support as these use it (body caching requires no external library).
</p><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="header-caching"></a>7.1. Header Caching</h3></div></div></div><p>
Mutt provides optional support for caching message headers for the
following types of folders: IMAP, POP, Maildir and MH. Header caching
greatly speeds up opening large folders because for remote folders,
headers usually only need to be downloaded once. For Maildir and MH,
reading the headers from a single file is much faster than looking at
possibly thousands of single files (since Maildir and MH use one file
per message.)
</p><p>
Header caching can be enabled via the configure script and the
<span class="emphasis"><em>--enable-hcache</em></span> option. It's not turned on by
default because external database libraries are required: one of
tokyocabinet, qdbm, gdbm or bdb must be present.
</p><p>
If enabled, <a class="link" href="#header-cache" title="3.81. header_cache">$header_cache</a> can be
used to either point to a file or a directory. If set to point to a
file, one database file for all folders will be used (which may result
in lower performance), but one file per folder if it points to a
directory.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="body-caching"></a>7.2. Body Caching</h3></div></div></div><p>
Both cache methods can be combined using the same directory for storage
(and for IMAP/POP even provide meaningful file names) which simplifies
manual maintenance tasks.
</p><p>
In addition to caching message headers only, Mutt can also cache whole
message bodies. This results in faster display of messages for POP and
IMAP folders because messages usually have to be downloaded only once.
</p><p>
For configuration, the variable <a class="link" href="#message-cachedir" title="3.136. message_cachedir">$message_cachedir</a> must point to a directory. There, Mutt will
create a hierarchy of subdirectories named like the account and mailbox
path the cache is for.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="cache-dirs"></a>7.3. Cache Directories</h3></div></div></div><p>
For using both, header and body caching, <a class="link" href="#header-cache" title="3.81. header_cache">$header_cache</a> and <a class="link" href="#message-cachedir" title="3.136. message_cachedir">$message_cachedir</a> can be safely set
to the same value.
</p><p>
In a header or body cache directory, Mutt creates a directory hierarchy
named like: <code class="literal">proto:user@hostname</code> where
<code class="literal">proto</code> is either <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">pop</span>”</span> or
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">imap.</span>”</span> Within there, for each folder, Mutt stores messages
in single files and header caches in files with the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">.hcache</span>”</span> extension.  All files can be removed as needed if
the consumed disk space becomes an issue as Mutt will silently fetch
missing items again. Pathnames are always stored in UTF-8 encoding.
</p><p>
For Maildir and MH, the header cache files are named after the MD5
checksum of the path.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="maint-cache"></a>7.4. Maintenance</h3></div></div></div><p>
Mutt does not (yet) support maintenance features for header cache
database files so that files have to be removed in case they grow too
big. It depends on the database library used for header caching whether
disk space freed by removing messages is re-used.
</p><p>
For body caches, Mutt can keep the local cache in sync with the remote
mailbox if the <a class="link" href="#message-cache-clean" title="3.135. message_cache_clean">$message_cache_clean</a> variable is
set. Cleaning means to remove messages from the cache which are no
longer present in the mailbox which only happens when other mail clients
or instances of Mutt using a different body cache location delete
messages (Mutt itself removes deleted messages from the cache when
syncing a mailbox). As cleaning can take a noticeable amount of time, it
should not be set in general but only occasionally.
</p></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="exact-address"></a>8. Exact Address Generation</h2></div></div></div><p>
Mutt supports the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Name &lt;user@host&gt;</span>”</span> address syntax
for reading and writing messages, the older <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">user@host
(Name)</span>”</span> syntax is only supported when reading messages. The
<span class="emphasis"><em>--enable-exact-address</em></span> switch can be given to
configure to build it with write-support for the latter
syntax. <code class="literal">EXACT_ADDRESS</code> in the output of <code class="literal">mutt
-v</code> indicates whether it's supported.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="sending-mixmaster"></a>9. Sending Anonymous Messages via Mixmaster</h2></div></div></div><p>
You may also have compiled Mutt to co-operate with Mixmaster, an
anonymous remailer.  Mixmaster permits you to send your messages
anonymously using a chain of remailers. Mixmaster support in Mutt is for
mixmaster version 2.04 or later.
</p><p>
To use it, you'll have to obey certain restrictions.  Most important,
you cannot use the <code class="literal">Cc</code> and <code class="literal">Bcc</code>
headers.  To tell Mutt to use mixmaster, you have to select a remailer
chain, using the mix function on the compose menu.
</p><p>
The chain selection screen is divided into two parts.  In the (larger)
upper part, you get a list of remailers you may use.  In the lower part,
you see the currently selected chain of remailers.
</p><p>
You can navigate in the chain using the
<code class="literal">&lt;chain-prev&gt;</code> and
<code class="literal">&lt;chain-next&gt;</code> functions, which are by default
bound to the left and right arrows and to the <code class="literal">h</code> and
<code class="literal">l</code> keys (think vi keyboard bindings).  To insert a
remailer at the current chain position, use the
<code class="literal">&lt;insert&gt;</code> function.  To append a remailer behind
the current chain position, use <code class="literal">&lt;select-entry&gt;</code>
or <code class="literal">&lt;append&gt;</code>.  You can also delete entries from
the chain, using the corresponding function.  Finally, to abandon your
changes, leave the menu, or <code class="literal">&lt;accept&gt;</code> them
pressing (by default) the <code class="literal">Return</code> key.
</p><p>
Note that different remailers do have different capabilities, indicated
in the %c entry of the remailer menu lines (see <a class="link" href="#mix-entry-format" title="3.147. mix_entry_format">$mix_entry_format</a>).  Most important is
the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">middleman</span>”</span> capability, indicated by a capital
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">M</span>”</span>: This means that the remailer in question cannot be
used as the final element of a chain, but will only forward messages to
other mixmaster remailers.  For details on the other capabilities,
please have a look at the mixmaster documentation.
</p></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="security"></a>Chapter 7. Security Considerations</h1></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#security-passwords">1. Passwords</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#security-tempfiles">2. Temporary Files</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#security-leaks">3. Information Leaks</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#security-leaks-mid">3.1. Message-Id: headers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#security-leaks-mailto">3.2. <code class="literal">mailto:</code>-style Links</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#security-external">4. External Applications</a></span></dt></dl></div><p>
First of all, Mutt contains no security holes included by intention but
may contain unknown security holes. As a consequence, please run Mutt
only with as few permissions as possible. Especially, do not run Mutt as
the super user.
</p><p>
When configuring Mutt, there're some points to note about secure setups
so please read this chapter carefully.
</p><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="security-passwords"></a>1. Passwords</h2></div></div></div><p>
Although Mutt can be told the various passwords for accounts, please
never store passwords in configuration files. Besides the fact that the
system's operator can always read them, you could forget to mask it out
when reporting a bug or asking for help via a mailing list. Even worse,
your mail including your password could be archived by internet search
engines, mail-to-news gateways etc. It may already be too late before
you notice your mistake.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="security-tempfiles"></a>2. Temporary Files</h2></div></div></div><p>
Mutt uses many temporary files for viewing messages, verifying digital
signatures, etc. As long as being used, these files are visible by other
users and maybe even readable in case of misconfiguration.  Also, a
different location for these files may be desired which can be changed
via the <a class="link" href="#tmpdir" title="3.303. tmpdir">$tmpdir</a> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="security-leaks"></a>3. Information Leaks</h2></div></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="security-leaks-mid"></a>3.1. Message-Id: headers</h3></div></div></div><p>
Message-Id: headers contain a local part that is to be created in a
unique fashion. In order to do so, Mutt will <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">leak</span>”</span> some
information to the outside world when sending messages: the generation
of this header includes a step counter which is increased (and rotated)
with every message sent. In a longer running mutt session, others can
make assumptions about your mailing habits depending on the number of
messages sent. If this is not desired, the header can be manually
provided using <a class="link" href="#edit-headers" title="3.59. edit_headers">$edit_headers</a> (though
not recommended).
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="security-leaks-mailto"></a>3.2. <code class="literal">mailto:</code>-style Links</h3></div></div></div><p>
As Mutt be can be set up to be the mail client to handle
<code class="literal">mailto:</code> style links in websites, there're security
considerations, too. Arbitrary header fields can be embedded in these
links which could override existing header fields or attach arbitrary
files using <a class="link" href="#attach-header" title="6.2.2. Attach: Pseudo Header">the Attach:
pseudoheader</a>. This may be problematic if the <a class="link" href="#edit-headers" title="3.59. edit_headers">$edit-headers</a> variable is
<span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, i.e. the user doesn't want to see header
fields while editing the message and doesn't pay enough attention to the
compose menu's listing of attachments.
</p><p>
For example, following a link like
</p><pre class="screen">
mailto:joe@host?Attach=~/.gnupg/secring.gpg</pre><p>
will send out the user's private gnupg keyring to
<code class="literal">joe@host</code> if the user doesn't follow the information
on screen carefully enough.
</p></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="security-external"></a>4. External Applications</h2></div></div></div><p>
Mutt in many places has to rely on external applications or for
convenience supports mechanisms involving external applications.
</p><p>
One of these is the <code class="literal">mailcap</code> mechanism as defined by
RfC1524. Details about a secure use of the mailcap mechanisms is given
in <a class="xref" href="#secure-mailcap" title="3.2. Secure Use of Mailcap">Section 3.2, “Secure Use of Mailcap”</a>.
</p><p>
Besides the mailcap mechanism, Mutt uses a number of other external
utilities for operation, for example to provide crypto support, in
backtick expansion in configuration files or format string filters.  The
same security considerations apply for these as for tools involved via
mailcap.
</p></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="tuning"></a>Chapter 8. Performance Tuning</h1></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#tuning-mailboxes">1. Reading and Writing Mailboxes</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#tuning-messages">2. Reading Messages from Remote Folders</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#tuning-search">3. Searching and Limiting</a></span></dt></dl></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="tuning-mailboxes"></a>1. Reading and Writing Mailboxes</h2></div></div></div><p>
Mutt's performance when reading mailboxes can be improved in two ways:
</p><div class="orderedlist"><ol class="orderedlist" type="1"><li class="listitem"><p>
For remote folders (IMAP and POP) as well as folders using one-file-per
message storage (Maildir and MH), Mutt's performance can be greatly
improved using <a class="link" href="#header-caching" title="7.1. Header Caching">header caching</a>.
using a single database per folder.
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>
Mutt provides the <a class="link" href="#read-inc" title="3.213. read_inc">$read_inc</a> and <a class="link" href="#write-inc" title="3.325. write_inc">$write_inc</a> variables to specify at which rate
to update progress counters. If these values are too low, Mutt may spend
more time on updating the progress counter than it spends on actually
reading/writing folders.
</p><p>
For example, when opening a maildir folder with a few thousand messages,
the default value for <a class="link" href="#read-inc" title="3.213. read_inc">$read_inc</a> may be
too low. It can be tuned on on a folder-basis using <a class="link" href="#folder-hook" title="7. Setting Variables Based Upon Mailbox"><span class="command"><strong>folder-hook</strong></span>s</a>:
</p><pre class="screen">
<span class="comment"># use very high $read_inc to speed up reading hcache'd maildirs</span>
folder-hook . 'set read_inc=1000'
<span class="comment"># use lower value for reading slower remote IMAP folders</span>
folder-hook ^imap 'set read_inc=100'
<span class="comment"># use even lower value for reading even slower remote POP folders</span>
folder-hook ^pop 'set read_inc=1'</pre></li></ol></div><p>
These settings work on a per-message basis. However, as messages may
greatly differ in size and certain operations are much faster than
others, even per-folder settings of the increment variables may not be
desirable as they produce either too few or too much progress updates.
Thus, Mutt allows to limit the number of progress updates per second
it'll actually send to the terminal using the <a class="link" href="#time-inc" title="3.301. time_inc">$time_inc</a> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="tuning-messages"></a>2. Reading Messages from Remote Folders</h2></div></div></div><p>
Reading messages from remote folders such as IMAP an POP can be slow
especially for large mailboxes since Mutt only caches a very limited
number of recently viewed messages (usually 10) per session (so that it
will be gone for the next session.)
</p><p>
To improve performance and permanently cache whole messages, please
refer to Mutt's so-called <a class="link" href="#body-caching" title="7.2. Body Caching">body
caching</a> for details.
</p></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="tuning-search"></a>3. Searching and Limiting</h2></div></div></div><p>
When searching mailboxes either via a search or a limit action, for some
patterns Mutt distinguishes between regular expression and string
searches. For regular expressions, patterns are prefixed with
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">~</span>”</span> and with <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">=</span>”</span> for string searches.
</p><p>
Even though a regular expression search is fast, it's several times
slower than a pure string search which is noticeable especially on large
folders. As a consequence, a string search should be used instead of a
regular expression search if the user already knows enough about the
search pattern.
</p><p>
For example, when limiting a large folder to all messages sent to or by
an author, it's much faster to search for the initial part of an e-mail
address via <code class="literal">=Luser@</code> instead of
<code class="literal">~Luser@</code>. This is especially true for searching
message bodies since a larger amount of input has to be searched.
</p><p>
As for regular expressions, a lower case string search pattern makes
Mutt perform a case-insensitive search except for IMAP (because for IMAP
Mutt performs server-side searches which don't support
case-insensitivity).
</p></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="reference"></a>Chapter 9. Reference</h1></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#commandline">1. Command-Line Options</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#commands">2. Configuration Commands</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#variables">3. Configuration Variables</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#abort-nosubject">3.1. abort_nosubject</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#abort-unmodified">3.2. abort_unmodified</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#alias-file">3.3. alias_file</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#alias-format">3.4. alias_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#allow-8bit">3.5. allow_8bit</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#allow-ansi">3.6. allow_ansi</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#arrow-cursor">3.7. arrow_cursor</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ascii-chars">3.8. ascii_chars</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#askbcc">3.9. askbcc</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#askcc">3.10. askcc</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#assumed-charset">3.11. assumed_charset</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#attach-charset">3.12. attach_charset</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#attach-format">3.13. attach_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#attach-sep">3.14. attach_sep</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#attach-split">3.15. attach_split</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#attribution">3.16. attribution</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#auto-tag">3.17. auto_tag</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#autoedit">3.18. autoedit</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#beep">3.19. beep</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#beep-new">3.20. beep_new</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#bounce">3.21. bounce</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#bounce-delivered">3.22. bounce_delivered</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#braille-friendly">3.23. braille_friendly</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#certificate-file">3.24. certificate_file</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#charset">3.25. charset</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#check-mbox-size">3.26. check_mbox_size</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#check-new">3.27. check_new</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#collapse-unread">3.28. collapse_unread</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#compose-format">3.29. compose_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#config-charset">3.30. config_charset</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#confirmappend">3.31. confirmappend</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#confirmcreate">3.32. confirmcreate</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#connect-timeout">3.33. connect_timeout</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#content-type">3.34. content_type</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#copy">3.35. copy</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-autoencrypt">3.36. crypt_autoencrypt</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-autopgp">3.37. crypt_autopgp</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-autosign">3.38. crypt_autosign</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-autosmime">3.39. crypt_autosmime</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-confirmhook">3.40. crypt_confirmhook</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-opportunistic-encrypt">3.41. crypt_opportunistic_encrypt</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-replyencrypt">3.42. crypt_replyencrypt</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-replysign">3.43. crypt_replysign</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-replysignencrypted">3.44. crypt_replysignencrypted</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-timestamp">3.45. crypt_timestamp</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-use-gpgme">3.46. crypt_use_gpgme</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-use-pka">3.47. crypt_use_pka</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#crypt-verify-sig">3.48. crypt_verify_sig</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#date-format">3.49. date_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#default-hook">3.50. default_hook</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#delete">3.51. delete</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#delete-untag">3.52. delete_untag</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#digest-collapse">3.53. digest_collapse</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#display-filter">3.54. display_filter</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#dotlock-program">3.55. dotlock_program</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#dsn-notify">3.56. dsn_notify</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#dsn-return">3.57. dsn_return</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#duplicate-threads">3.58. duplicate_threads</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#edit-headers">3.59. edit_headers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#editor">3.60. editor</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#encode-from">3.61. encode_from</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#entropy-file">3.62. entropy_file</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#envelope-from-address">3.63. envelope_from_address</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#escape">3.64. escape</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#fast-reply">3.65. fast_reply</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#fcc-attach">3.66. fcc_attach</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#fcc-clear">3.67. fcc_clear</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#folder">3.68. folder</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#folder-format">3.69. folder_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#followup-to">3.70. followup_to</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#force-name">3.71. force_name</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#forward-decode">3.72. forward_decode</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#forward-decrypt">3.73. forward_decrypt</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#forward-edit">3.74. forward_edit</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#forward-format">3.75. forward_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#forward-quote">3.76. forward_quote</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#from">3.77. from</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#gecos-mask">3.78. gecos_mask</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hdrs">3.79. hdrs</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#header">3.80. header</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#header-cache">3.81. header_cache</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#header-cache-compress">3.82. header_cache_compress</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#header-cache-pagesize">3.83. header_cache_pagesize</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#help">3.84. help</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hidden-host">3.85. hidden_host</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hide-limited">3.86. hide_limited</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hide-missing">3.87. hide_missing</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hide-thread-subject">3.88. hide_thread_subject</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hide-top-limited">3.89. hide_top_limited</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hide-top-missing">3.90. hide_top_missing</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#history">3.91. history</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#history-file">3.92. history_file</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#honor-disposition">3.93. honor_disposition</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#honor-followup-to">3.94. honor_followup_to</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#hostname">3.95. hostname</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ignore-linear-white-space">3.96. ignore_linear_white_space</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ignore-list-reply-to">3.97. ignore_list_reply_to</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-authenticators">3.98. imap_authenticators</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-check-subscribed">3.99. imap_check_subscribed</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-delim-chars">3.100. imap_delim_chars</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-headers">3.101. imap_headers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-idle">3.102. imap_idle</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-keepalive">3.103. imap_keepalive</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-list-subscribed">3.104. imap_list_subscribed</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-login">3.105. imap_login</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-pass">3.106. imap_pass</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-passive">3.107. imap_passive</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-peek">3.108. imap_peek</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-pipeline-depth">3.109. imap_pipeline_depth</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-servernoise">3.110. imap_servernoise</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#imap-user">3.111. imap_user</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#implicit-autoview">3.112. implicit_autoview</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#include">3.113. include</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#include-onlyfirst">3.114. include_onlyfirst</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#indent-string">3.115. indent_string</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#index-format">3.116. index_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ispell">3.117. ispell</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#keep-flagged">3.118. keep_flagged</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#locale">3.119. locale</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mail-check">3.120. mail_check</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mail-check-recent">3.121. mail_check_recent</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mailcap-path">3.122. mailcap_path</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mailcap-sanitize">3.123. mailcap_sanitize</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#maildir-header-cache-verify">3.124. maildir_header_cache_verify</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#maildir-trash">3.125. maildir_trash</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#maildir-check-cur">3.126. maildir_check_cur</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mark-old">3.127. mark_old</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#markers">3.128. markers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mask">3.129. mask</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mbox">3.130. mbox</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mbox-type">3.131. mbox_type</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#menu-context">3.132. menu_context</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#menu-move-off">3.133. menu_move_off</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#menu-scroll">3.134. menu_scroll</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#message-cache-clean">3.135. message_cache_clean</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#message-cachedir">3.136. message_cachedir</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#message-format">3.137. message_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#meta-key">3.138. meta_key</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#metoo">3.139. metoo</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mh-purge">3.140. mh_purge</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mh-seq-flagged">3.141. mh_seq_flagged</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mh-seq-replied">3.142. mh_seq_replied</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mh-seq-unseen">3.143. mh_seq_unseen</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mime-forward">3.144. mime_forward</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mime-forward-decode">3.145. mime_forward_decode</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mime-forward-rest">3.146. mime_forward_rest</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mix-entry-format">3.147. mix_entry_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mixmaster">3.148. mixmaster</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#move">3.149. move</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#narrow-tree">3.150. narrow_tree</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#net-inc">3.151. net_inc</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pager">3.152. pager</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pager-context">3.153. pager_context</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pager-format">3.154. pager_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pager-index-lines">3.155. pager_index_lines</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pager-stop">3.156. pager_stop</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-auto-decode">3.157. pgp_auto_decode</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-autoinline">3.158. pgp_autoinline</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-check-exit">3.159. pgp_check_exit</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-clearsign-command">3.160. pgp_clearsign_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-decode-command">3.161. pgp_decode_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-decrypt-command">3.162. pgp_decrypt_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-encrypt-only-command">3.163. pgp_encrypt_only_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-encrypt-sign-command">3.164. pgp_encrypt_sign_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-entry-format">3.165. pgp_entry_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-export-command">3.166. pgp_export_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-getkeys-command">3.167. pgp_getkeys_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-good-sign">3.168. pgp_good_sign</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-ignore-subkeys">3.169. pgp_ignore_subkeys</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-import-command">3.170. pgp_import_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-list-pubring-command">3.171. pgp_list_pubring_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-list-secring-command">3.172. pgp_list_secring_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-long-ids">3.173. pgp_long_ids</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-mime-auto">3.174. pgp_mime_auto</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-replyinline">3.175. pgp_replyinline</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-retainable-sigs">3.176. pgp_retainable_sigs</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-show-unusable">3.177. pgp_show_unusable</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-sign-as">3.178. pgp_sign_as</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-sign-command">3.179. pgp_sign_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-sort-keys">3.180. pgp_sort_keys</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-strict-enc">3.181. pgp_strict_enc</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-timeout">3.182. pgp_timeout</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-use-gpg-agent">3.183. pgp_use_gpg_agent</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-verify-command">3.184. pgp_verify_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-verify-key-command">3.185. pgp_verify_key_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pipe-decode">3.186. pipe_decode</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pipe-sep">3.187. pipe_sep</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pipe-split">3.188. pipe_split</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-auth-try-all">3.189. pop_auth_try_all</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-authenticators">3.190. pop_authenticators</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-checkinterval">3.191. pop_checkinterval</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-delete">3.192. pop_delete</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-host">3.193. pop_host</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-last">3.194. pop_last</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-pass">3.195. pop_pass</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-reconnect">3.196. pop_reconnect</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pop-user">3.197. pop_user</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#post-indent-string">3.198. post_indent_string</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#postpone">3.199. postpone</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#postponed">3.200. postponed</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#postpone-encrypt">3.201. postpone_encrypt</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#postpone-encrypt-as">3.202. postpone_encrypt_as</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#preconnect">3.203. preconnect</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#print">3.204. print</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#print-command">3.205. print_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#print-decode">3.206. print_decode</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#print-split">3.207. print_split</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#prompt-after">3.208. prompt_after</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#query-command">3.209. query_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#query-format">3.210. query_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#quit">3.211. quit</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#quote-regexp">3.212. quote_regexp</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#read-inc">3.213. read_inc</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#read-only">3.214. read_only</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#realname">3.215. realname</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#recall">3.216. recall</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#record">3.217. record</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reflow-text">3.218. reflow_text</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reflow-wrap">3.219. reflow_wrap</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reply-regexp">3.220. reply_regexp</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reply-self">3.221. reply_self</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reply-to">3.222. reply_to</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#resolve">3.223. resolve</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reverse-alias">3.224. reverse_alias</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reverse-name">3.225. reverse_name</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#reverse-realname">3.226. reverse_realname</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#rfc2047-parameters">3.227. rfc2047_parameters</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#save-address">3.228. save_address</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#save-empty">3.229. save_empty</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#save-history">3.230. save_history</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#save-name">3.231. save_name</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#score">3.232. score</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#score-threshold-delete">3.233. score_threshold_delete</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#score-threshold-flag">3.234. score_threshold_flag</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#score-threshold-read">3.235. score_threshold_read</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#search-context">3.236. search_context</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#send-charset">3.237. send_charset</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sendmail">3.238. sendmail</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sendmail-wait">3.239. sendmail_wait</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#shell">3.240. shell</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sig-dashes">3.241. sig_dashes</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sig-on-top">3.242. sig_on_top</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#signature">3.243. signature</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#simple-search">3.244. simple_search</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sleep-time">3.245. sleep_time</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smart-wrap">3.246. smart_wrap</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smileys">3.247. smileys</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-ask-cert-label">3.248. smime_ask_cert_label</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-ca-location">3.249. smime_ca_location</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-certificates">3.250. smime_certificates</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-decrypt-command">3.251. smime_decrypt_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-decrypt-use-default-key">3.252. smime_decrypt_use_default_key</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-default-key">3.253. smime_default_key</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-encrypt-command">3.254. smime_encrypt_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-encrypt-with">3.255. smime_encrypt_with</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-get-cert-command">3.256. smime_get_cert_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-get-cert-email-command">3.257. smime_get_cert_email_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-get-signer-cert-command">3.258. smime_get_signer_cert_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-import-cert-command">3.259. smime_import_cert_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-is-default">3.260. smime_is_default</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-keys">3.261. smime_keys</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-pk7out-command">3.262. smime_pk7out_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-sign-command">3.263. smime_sign_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-sign-opaque-command">3.264. smime_sign_opaque_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-timeout">3.265. smime_timeout</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-verify-command">3.266. smime_verify_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-verify-opaque-command">3.267. smime_verify_opaque_command</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smtp-authenticators">3.268. smtp_authenticators</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smtp-pass">3.269. smtp_pass</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smtp-url">3.270. smtp_url</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sort">3.271. sort</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sort-alias">3.272. sort_alias</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sort-aux">3.273. sort_aux</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sort-browser">3.274. sort_browser</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#sort-re">3.275. sort_re</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#spam-separator">3.276. spam_separator</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#spoolfile">3.277. spoolfile</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-ca-certificates-file">3.278. ssl_ca_certificates_file</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-client-cert">3.279. ssl_client_cert</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-force-tls">3.280. ssl_force_tls</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-min-dh-prime-bits">3.281. ssl_min_dh_prime_bits</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-starttls">3.282. ssl_starttls</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-use-sslv2">3.283. ssl_use_sslv2</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-use-sslv3">3.284. ssl_use_sslv3</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-use-tlsv1">3.285. ssl_use_tlsv1</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-use-tlsv1-1">3.286. ssl_use_tlsv1_1</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-use-tlsv1-2">3.287. ssl_use_tlsv1_2</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-usesystemcerts">3.288. ssl_usesystemcerts</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-verify-dates">3.289. ssl_verify_dates</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-verify-host">3.290. ssl_verify_host</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ssl-ciphers">3.291. ssl_ciphers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#status-chars">3.292. status_chars</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#status-format">3.293. status_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#status-on-top">3.294. status_on_top</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#strict-threads">3.295. strict_threads</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#suspend">3.296. suspend</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#text-flowed">3.297. text_flowed</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#thorough-search">3.298. thorough_search</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#thread-received">3.299. thread_received</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#tilde">3.300. tilde</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#time-inc">3.301. time_inc</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#timeout">3.302. timeout</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#tmpdir">3.303. tmpdir</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#to-chars">3.304. to_chars</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ts-icon-format">3.305. ts_icon_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ts-enabled">3.306. ts_enabled</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#ts-status-format">3.307. ts_status_format</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#tunnel">3.308. tunnel</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#uncollapse-jump">3.309. uncollapse_jump</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#use-8bitmime">3.310. use_8bitmime</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#use-domain">3.311. use_domain</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#use-envelope-from">3.312. use_envelope_from</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#use-from">3.313. use_from</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#use-idn">3.314. use_idn</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#use-ipv6">3.315. use_ipv6</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#user-agent">3.316. user_agent</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#visual">3.317. visual</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#wait-key">3.318. wait_key</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#weed">3.319. weed</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#wrap">3.320. wrap</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#wrap-headers">3.321. wrap_headers</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#wrap-search">3.322. wrap_search</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#wrapmargin">3.323. wrapmargin</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#write-bcc">3.324. write_bcc</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#write-inc">3.325. write_inc</a></span></dt></dl></dd><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#functions">4. Functions</a></span></dt><dd><dl><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#generic-map">4.1. Generic Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#index-map">4.2. Index Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pager-map">4.3. Pager Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#alias-map">4.4. Alias Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#query-map">4.5. Query Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#attachment-map">4.6. Attachment Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#compose-map">4.7. Compose Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#postpone-map">4.8. Postpone Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#browser-map">4.9. Browser Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#pgp-map">4.10. Pgp Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#smime-map">4.11. Smime Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#mixmaster-map">4.12. Mixmaster Menu</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect2"><a href="#editor-map">4.13. Editor Menu</a></span></dt></dl></dd></dl></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="commandline"></a>1. Command-Line Options</h2></div></div></div><p>
Running <code class="literal">mutt</code> with no arguments will make Mutt attempt
to read your spool mailbox.  However, it is possible to read other
mailboxes and to send messages from the command line as well.
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-commandline-options"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.1. Command line options</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Command line options" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Option</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>-A</td><td>expand an alias</td></tr><tr><td>-a</td><td>attach a file to a message</td></tr><tr><td>-b</td><td>specify a blind carbon-copy (BCC) address</td></tr><tr><td>-c</td><td>specify a carbon-copy (Cc) address</td></tr><tr><td>-D</td><td>print the value of all Mutt variables to stdout</td></tr><tr><td>-e</td><td>specify a config command to be run after initialization files are read</td></tr><tr><td>-f</td><td>specify a mailbox to load</td></tr><tr><td>-F</td><td>specify an alternate file to read initialization commands</td></tr><tr><td>-h</td><td>print help on command line options</td></tr><tr><td>-H</td><td>specify a draft file from which to read a header and body</td></tr><tr><td>-i</td><td>specify a file to include in a message composition</td></tr><tr><td>-m</td><td>specify a default mailbox type</td></tr><tr><td>-n</td><td>do not read the system Muttrc</td></tr><tr><td>-p</td><td>recall a postponed message</td></tr><tr><td>-Q</td><td>query a configuration variable</td></tr><tr><td>-R</td><td>open mailbox in read-only mode</td></tr><tr><td>-s</td><td>specify a subject (enclose in quotes if it contains spaces)</td></tr><tr><td>-v</td><td>show version number and compile-time definitions</td></tr><tr><td>-x</td><td>simulate the mailx(1) compose mode</td></tr><tr><td>-y</td><td>show a menu containing the files specified by the <span class="command"><strong>mailboxes</strong></span> command</td></tr><tr><td>-z</td><td>exit immediately if there are no messages in the mailbox</td></tr><tr><td>-Z</td><td>open the first folder with new message, exit immediately if none</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /><p>
To read messages in a mailbox
</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">mutt</code>  [<code class="option">-nz</code>] [<code class="option">-F</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>muttrc</code></em>
] [<code class="option">-m</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>type</code></em>
] [<code class="option">-f</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>mailbox</code></em>
]</p></div><p>
To compose a new message
</p><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">mutt</code>  [<code class="option">-n</code>] [<code class="option">-F</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>muttrc</code></em>
] [<code class="option">-c</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>address</code></em>
] [<code class="option">-i</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>filename</code></em>
] [<code class="option">-s</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>subject</code></em>
] [
<code class="option">-a</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>file</code></em>
 [...]
--
]   
<em class="replaceable"><code>address</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mailto_url</code></em>
 ... </p></div><p>
Mutt also supports a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">batch</span>”</span> mode to send prepared
messages.  Simply redirect input from the file you wish to send.  For
example,
</p><pre class="screen">
mutt -s "data set for run #2" professor@bigschool.edu &lt; ~/run2.dat</pre><p>
will send a message to
<code class="literal">&lt;professor@bigschool.edu&gt;</code> with a subject of
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">data set for run #2</span>”</span>.  In the body of the message will be
the contents of the file <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">~/run2.dat</span>”</span>.
</p><p>
All files passed with <code class="literal">-a</code> <span class="emphasis"><em>file</em></span>
will be attached as a MIME part to the message. To attach a single or
several files, use <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">--</span>”</span> to separate files and recipient
addresses:
</p><pre class="screen">
mutt -a image.png -- some@one.org</pre><p>
or
</p><pre class="screen">
mutt -a *.png -- some@one.org</pre><div class="note"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
The <code class="literal">-a</code> option must be last in the option list.
</p></div><p>
In addition to accepting a list of email addresses, Mutt also accepts a URL with
the <code class="literal">mailto:</code> schema as specified in RFC2368.  This is useful
when configuring a web browser to launch Mutt when clicking on mailto links.
</p><pre class="screen">
mutt mailto:some@one.org?subject=test&amp;cc=other@one.org</pre></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="commands"></a>2. Configuration Commands</h2></div></div></div><p>
The following are the commands understood by Mutt:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#account-hook" title="6. Managing Multiple Accounts">account-hook</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
<em class="replaceable"><code>command</code></em>
 </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#alias" title="4. Defining/Using Aliases">alias</a></code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
...]  
<em class="replaceable"><code>key</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>address</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>address</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#alias" title="4. Defining/Using Aliases">unalias</a></code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
...] { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>key</code></em>
... }</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#alternates" title="11. Alternative Addresses">alternates</a></code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
...]  
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#alternates" title="11. Alternative Addresses">unalternates</a></code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
...] { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
... }</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#alternative-order" title="5. MIME Multipart/Alternative">alternative_order</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mimetype</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>mimetype</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#alternative-order" title="5. MIME Multipart/Alternative">unalternative_order</a></code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mimetype</code></em>
... }</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#attachments" title="6. Attachment Searching and Counting">attachments</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>{ + | - }disposition</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mime-type</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#attachments" title="6. Attachment Searching and Counting">unattachments</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>{ + | - }disposition</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mime-type</code></em>
 </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#auto-view" title="4. MIME Autoview">auto_view</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mimetype</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>mimetype</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#auto-view" title="4. MIME Autoview">unauto_view</a></code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mimetype</code></em>
... }</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#bind" title="5. Changing the Default Key Bindings">bind</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>map</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>key</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>function</code></em>
 </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#charset-hook" title="6. Defining Aliases for Character Sets">charset-hook</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>alias</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>charset</code></em>
 </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#iconv-hook">iconv-hook</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>charset</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>local-charset</code></em>
 </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#color" title="9. Using Color and Mono Video Attributes">color</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>object</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>foreground</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>background</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#color" title="9. Using Color and Mono Video Attributes">color</a></code>  { 
<code class="option">header</code>
  |   
<code class="option">body</code>
 }  
<em class="replaceable"><code>foreground</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>background</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#color" title="9. Using Color and Mono Video Attributes">color</a></code>   
<code class="option">index</code>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>foreground</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>background</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#color" title="9. Using Color and Mono Video Attributes">uncolor</a></code>  { 
<code class="option">index</code>
  |   
<code class="option">header</code>
  |   
<code class="option">body</code>
 } { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
... }</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#crypt-hook" title="21. Choosing the Cryptographic Key of the Recipient">crypt-hook</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>keyid</code></em>
 </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#exec" title="23. Executing Functions">exec</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>function</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>function</code></em>
...]</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#fcc-hook" title="17. Specify Default Fcc: Mailbox When Composing">fcc-hook</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mailbox</code></em>
 </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#fcc-save-hook" title="18. Specify Default Save Filename and Default Fcc: Mailbox at Once">fcc-save-hook</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mailbox</code></em>
 </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#folder-hook" title="7. Setting Variables Based Upon Mailbox">folder-hook</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]regexp</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>command</code></em>
 </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#addrgroup" title="3. Address Groups">group</a></code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
...] { 
<code class="option">-rx</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>expr</code></em>
...  |   
<code class="option">-addr</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>expr</code></em>
... }<br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#addrgroup" title="3. Address Groups">ungroup</a></code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
...] { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<code class="option">-rx</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>expr</code></em>
...  |   
<code class="option">-addr</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>expr</code></em>
... }</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#hdr-order" title="10.3. Ordering Displayed Headers">hdr_order</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>header</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>header</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#hdr-order" title="10.3. Ordering Displayed Headers">unhdr_order</a></code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>header</code></em>
... }</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#ignore" title="10.2. Selecting Headers">ignore</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#ignore" title="10.2. Selecting Headers">unignore</a></code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
... }</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#lists" title="12. Mailing Lists">lists</a></code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
]  
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#lists" title="12. Mailing Lists">unlists</a></code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
...] { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
... }</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#macro" title="8. Keyboard Macros">macro</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>menu</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>key</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>sequence</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>description</code></em>
]</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#mailboxes" title="14. Monitoring Incoming Mail">mailboxes</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mailbox</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>mailbox</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#mailboxes" title="14. Monitoring Incoming Mail">unmailboxes</a></code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mailbox</code></em>
... }</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#mbox-hook" title="13. Using Multiple Spool Mailboxes">mbox-hook</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]regexp</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mailbox</code></em>
 </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#message-hook" title="20. Change Settings Before Formatting a Message">message-hook</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>command</code></em>
 </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#mime-lookup" title="7. MIME Lookup">mime-lookup</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mimetype</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>mimetype</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#mime-lookup" title="7. MIME Lookup">unmime-lookup</a></code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mimetype</code></em>
... }</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#mono">mono</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>object</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>attribute</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#mono">mono</a></code>  { 
<code class="option">header</code>
  |   
<code class="option">body</code>
 }  
<em class="replaceable"><code>attribute</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#mono">mono</a></code>   
<code class="option">index</code>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>attribute</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#mono">unmono</a></code>  { 
<code class="option">index</code>
  |   
<code class="option">header</code>
  |   
<code class="option">body</code>
 } { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
... }</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#my-hdr" title="15. User-Defined Headers">my_hdr</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>string</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#my-hdr" title="15. User-Defined Headers">unmy_hdr</a></code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>field</code></em>
... }</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#push" title="22. Adding Key Sequences to the Keyboard Buffer">push</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>string</code></em>
 </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#save-hook" title="16. Specify Default Save Mailbox">save-hook</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>mailbox</code></em>
 </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#score" title="3.232. score">score</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>value</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#score" title="3.232. score">unscore</a></code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
... }</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#reply-hook">reply-hook</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>command</code></em>
 </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#send-hook" title="19. Change Settings Based Upon Message Recipients">send-hook</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>command</code></em>
 </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#send2-hook">send2-hook</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>[!]pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>command</code></em>
 </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#set" title="26. Setting and Querying Variables">set</a></code>  { 
[ <code class="option">no</code>  |   <code class="option">inv</code> ]
<em class="replaceable"><code>variable</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>variable=value</code></em>
 } [...]<br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#set" title="26. Setting and Querying Variables">toggle</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>variable</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>variable</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#set" title="26. Setting and Querying Variables">unset</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>variable</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>variable</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#set" title="26. Setting and Querying Variables">reset</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>variable</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>variable</code></em>
...]</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#source" title="27. Reading Initialization Commands From Another File">source</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>filename</code></em>
 </p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#spam" title="25. Spam Detection">spam</a></code>   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
   
<em class="replaceable"><code>format</code></em>
 <br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#spam" title="25. Spam Detection">nospam</a></code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>pattern</code></em>
 }</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#subscribe">subscribe</a></code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
...]  
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
  [
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
...]<br /><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#subscribe">unsubscribe</a></code>  [
<code class="option">-group</code>
<em class="replaceable"><code>name</code></em>
...] { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>regexp</code></em>
... }</p></div></li><li class="listitem"><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command"><a class="link" href="#unhook" title="28. Removing Hooks">unhook</a></code>  { 
<em class="replaceable"><code>*</code></em>
  |   
<em class="replaceable"><code>hook-type</code></em>
 }</p></div></li></ul></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="variables"></a>3. Configuration Variables</h2></div></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="abort-nosubject"></a>3.1. abort_nosubject</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: ask-yes</p></div><p>
If set to <span class="emphasis"><em>yes</em></span>, when composing messages and no subject is given
at the subject prompt, composition will be aborted.  If set to
<span class="emphasis"><em>no</em></span>, composing messages with no subject given at the subject
prompt will never be aborted.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="abort-unmodified"></a>3.2. abort_unmodified</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If set to <span class="emphasis"><em>yes</em></span>, composition will automatically abort after
editing the message body if no changes are made to the file (this
check only happens after the <span class="emphasis"><em>first</em></span> edit of the file).  When set
to <span class="emphasis"><em>no</em></span>, composition will never be aborted.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="alias-file"></a>3.3. alias_file</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">~/.muttrc</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
The default file in which to save aliases created by the
<code class="literal"><a class="link" href="#create-alias">&lt;create-alias&gt;</a></code> function. Entries added to this file are
encoded in the character set specified by <a class="link" href="#config-charset" title="3.30. config_charset">$config_charset</a> if it
is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span> or the current character set otherwise.
</p><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Note:</strong></span> Mutt will not automatically source this file; you must
explicitly use the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#source" title="27. Reading Initialization Commands From Another File">source</a></span>”</span> command for it to be executed in case
this option points to a dedicated alias file.
</p><p>
The default for this option is the currently used muttrc file, or
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">~/.muttrc</span>”</span> if no user muttrc was found.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="alias-format"></a>3.4. alias_format</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">%4n %2f %t %-10a   %r</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
Specifies the format of the data displayed for the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#alias" title="4. Defining/Using Aliases">alias</a></span>”</span> menu.  The
following <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-style sequences are available:

</p><div class="informaltable"><table border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>%a </td><td>alias name
</td></tr><tr><td>%f </td><td>flags - currently, a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">d</span>”</span> for an alias marked for deletion
</td></tr><tr><td>%n </td><td>index number
</td></tr><tr><td>%r </td><td>address which alias expands to
</td></tr><tr><td>%t </td><td>character which indicates if the alias is tagged for inclusion
</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="allow-8bit"></a>3.5. allow_8bit</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
Controls whether 8-bit data is converted to 7-bit using either Quoted-
Printable or Base64 encoding when sending mail.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="allow-ansi"></a>3.6. allow_ansi</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
Controls whether ANSI color codes in messages (and color tags in
rich text messages) are to be interpreted.
Messages containing these codes are rare, but if this option is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>,
their text will be colored accordingly. Note that this may override
your color choices, and even present a security problem, since a
message could include a line like

</p><pre class="screen">
[-- PGP output follows ...
</pre><p>
and give it the same color as your attachment color (see also
<a class="link" href="#crypt-timestamp" title="3.45. crypt_timestamp">$crypt_timestamp</a>).
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="arrow-cursor"></a>3.7. arrow_cursor</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, an arrow (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-&gt;</span>”</span>) will be used to indicate the current entry
in menus instead of highlighting the whole line.  On slow network or modem
links this will make response faster because there is less that has to
be redrawn on the screen when moving to the next or previous entries
in the menu.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ascii-chars"></a>3.8. ascii_chars</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will use plain ASCII characters when displaying thread
and attachment trees, instead of the default <span class="emphasis"><em>ACS</em></span> characters.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="askbcc"></a>3.9. askbcc</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will prompt you for blind-carbon-copy (Bcc) recipients
before editing an outgoing message.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="askcc"></a>3.10. askcc</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will prompt you for carbon-copy (Cc) recipients before
editing the body of an outgoing message.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="assumed-charset"></a>3.11. assumed_charset</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This variable is a colon-separated list of character encoding
schemes for messages without character encoding indication.
Header field values and message body content without character encoding
indication would be assumed that they are written in one of this list.
By default, all the header fields and message body without any charset
indication are assumed to be in <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">us-ascii</span>”</span>.
</p><p>
For example, Japanese users might prefer this:

</p><pre class="screen">
set assumed_charset="iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8"
</pre><p>
However, only the first content is valid for the message body.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="attach-charset"></a>3.12. attach_charset</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This variable is a colon-separated list of character encoding
schemes for text file attachments. Mutt uses this setting to guess
which encoding files being attached are encoded in to convert them to
a proper character set given in <a class="link" href="#send-charset" title="3.237. send_charset">$send_charset</a>.
</p><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, the value of <a class="link" href="#charset" title="3.25. charset">$charset</a> will be used instead.
For example, the following configuration would work for Japanese
text handling:

</p><pre class="screen">
set attach_charset="iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8"
</pre><p>
Note: for Japanese users, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">iso-2022-*</span>”</span> must be put at the head
of the value as shown above if included.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="attach-format"></a>3.13. attach_format</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">%u%D%I %t%4n %T%.40d%&gt; [%.7m/%.10M, %.6e%?C?, %C?, %s] </code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This variable describes the format of the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">attachment</span>”</span> menu.  The
following <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-style sequences are understood:

</p><div class="informaltable"><table border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>%C  </td><td>charset
</td></tr><tr><td>%c  </td><td>requires charset conversion (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">n</span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">c</span>”</span>)
</td></tr><tr><td>%D  </td><td>deleted flag
</td></tr><tr><td>%d  </td><td>description
</td></tr><tr><td>%e  </td><td>MIME content-transfer-encoding
</td></tr><tr><td>%f  </td><td>filename
</td></tr><tr><td>%I  </td><td>disposition (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">I</span>”</span> for inline, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">A</span>”</span> for attachment)
</td></tr><tr><td>%m  </td><td>major MIME type
</td></tr><tr><td>%M  </td><td>MIME subtype
</td></tr><tr><td>%n  </td><td>attachment number
</td></tr><tr><td>%Q  </td><td><span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Q</span>”</span>, if MIME part qualifies for attachment counting
</td></tr><tr><td>%s  </td><td>size
</td></tr><tr><td>%t  </td><td>tagged flag
</td></tr><tr><td>%T  </td><td>graphic tree characters
</td></tr><tr><td>%u  </td><td>unlink (=to delete) flag
</td></tr><tr><td>%X  </td><td>number of qualifying MIME parts in this part and its children
(please see the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#attachments" title="6. Attachment Searching and Counting">attachments</a></span>”</span> section for possible speed effects)
</td></tr><tr><td>%&gt;X </td><td>right justify the rest of the string and pad with character <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X</span>”</span>
</td></tr><tr><td>%|X </td><td>pad to the end of the line with character <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X</span>”</span>
</td></tr><tr><td>%*X </td><td>soft-fill with character <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X</span>”</span> as pad
</td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>
For an explanation of <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">soft-fill</span>”</span>, see the <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a> documentation.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="attach-sep"></a>3.14. attach_sep</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">\n</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
The separator to add between attachments when operating (saving,
printing, piping, etc) on a list of tagged attachments.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="attach-split"></a>3.15. attach_split</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If this variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, when operating (saving, printing, piping,
etc) on a list of tagged attachments, Mutt will concatenate the
attachments and will operate on them as a single attachment. The
<a class="link" href="#attach-sep" title="3.14. attach_sep">$attach_sep</a> separator is added after each attachment. When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>,
Mutt will operate on the attachments one by one.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="attribution"></a>3.16. attribution</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">On %d, %n wrote:</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This is the string that will precede a message which has been included
in a reply.  For a full listing of defined <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences see
the section on <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="auto-tag"></a>3.17. auto_tag</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, functions in the <span class="emphasis"><em>index</em></span> menu which affect a message
will be applied to all tagged messages (if there are any).  When
unset, you must first use the <code class="literal">&lt;tag-prefix&gt;</code> function (bound to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">;</span>”</span>
by default) to make the next function apply to all tagged messages.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="autoedit"></a>3.18. autoedit</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span> along with <a class="link" href="#edit-headers" title="3.59. edit_headers">$edit_headers</a>, Mutt will skip the initial
send-menu (prompting for subject and recipients) and allow you to
immediately begin editing the body of your
message.  The send-menu may still be accessed once you have finished
editing the body of your message.
</p><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Note:</strong></span> when this option is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, you cannot use send-hooks that depend
on the recipients when composing a new (non-reply) message, as the initial
list of recipients is empty.
</p><p>
Also see <a class="link" href="#fast-reply" title="3.65. fast_reply">$fast_reply</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="beep"></a>3.19. beep</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When this variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will beep when an error occurs.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="beep-new"></a>3.20. beep_new</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When this variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will beep whenever it prints a message
notifying you of new mail.  This is independent of the setting of the
<a class="link" href="#beep" title="3.19. beep">$beep</a> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="bounce"></a>3.21. bounce</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: ask-yes</p></div><p>
Controls whether you will be asked to confirm bouncing messages.
If set to <span class="emphasis"><em>yes</em></span> you don't get asked if you want to bounce a
message. Setting this variable to <span class="emphasis"><em>no</em></span> is not generally useful,
and thus not recommended, because you are unable to bounce messages.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="bounce-delivered"></a>3.22. bounce_delivered</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When this variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will include Delivered-To headers when
bouncing messages.  Postfix users may wish to <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span> this variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="braille-friendly"></a>3.23. braille_friendly</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When this variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will place the cursor at the beginning
of the current line in menus, even when the <a class="link" href="#arrow-cursor" title="3.7. arrow_cursor">$arrow_cursor</a> variable
is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, making it easier for blind persons using Braille displays to
follow these menus.  The option is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span> by default because many
visual terminals don't permit making the cursor invisible.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="certificate-file"></a>3.24. certificate_file</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">~/.mutt_certificates</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This variable specifies the file where the certificates you trust
are saved. When an unknown certificate is encountered, you are asked
if you accept it or not. If you accept it, the certificate can also
be saved in this file and further connections are automatically
accepted.
</p><p>
You can also manually add CA certificates in this file. Any server
certificate that is signed with one of these CA certificates is
also automatically accepted.
</p><p>
Example:

</p><pre class="screen">
set certificate_file=~/.mutt/certificates
</pre></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="charset"></a>3.25. charset</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Character set your terminal uses to display and enter textual data.
It is also the fallback for <a class="link" href="#send-charset" title="3.237. send_charset">$send_charset</a>.
</p><p>
Upon startup Mutt tries to derive this value from environment variables
such as <code class="literal">$LC_CTYPE</code> or <code class="literal">$LANG</code>.
</p><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Note:</strong></span> It should only be set in case Mutt isn't able to determine the
character set used correctly.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="check-mbox-size"></a>3.26. check_mbox_size</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When this variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will use file size attribute instead of
access time when checking for new mail in mbox and mmdf folders.
</p><p>
This variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span> by default and should only be enabled when
new mail detection for these folder types is unreliable or doesn't work.
</p><p>
Note that enabling this variable should happen before any <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#mailboxes" title="14. Monitoring Incoming Mail">mailboxes</a></span>”</span>
directives occur in configuration files regarding mbox or mmdf folders
because mutt needs to determine the initial new mail status of such a
mailbox by performing a fast mailbox scan when it is defined.
Afterwards the new mail status is tracked by file size changes.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="check-new"></a>3.27. check_new</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Note:</strong></span> this option only affects <span class="emphasis"><em>maildir</em></span> and <span class="emphasis"><em>MH</em></span> style
mailboxes.
</p><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will check for new mail delivered while the
mailbox is open.  Especially with MH mailboxes, this operation can
take quite some time since it involves scanning the directory and
checking each file to see if it has already been looked at.  If
this variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, no check for new mail is performed
while the mailbox is open.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="collapse-unread"></a>3.28. collapse_unread</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, Mutt will not collapse a thread if it contains any
unread messages.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="compose-format"></a>3.29. compose_format</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">-- Mutt: Compose  [Approx. msg size: %l   Atts: %a]%&gt;-</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
Controls the format of the status line displayed in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">compose</span>”</span>
menu.  This string is similar to <a class="link" href="#status-format" title="3.293. status_format">$status_format</a>, but has its own
set of <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences:

</p><div class="informaltable"><table border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>%a </td><td>total number of attachments
</td></tr><tr><td>%h </td><td>local hostname
</td></tr><tr><td>%l </td><td>approximate size (in bytes) of the current message
</td></tr><tr><td>%v </td><td>Mutt version string
</td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>
See the text describing the <a class="link" href="#status-format" title="3.293. status_format">$status_format</a> option for more
information on how to set <a class="link" href="#compose-format" title="3.29. compose_format">$compose_format</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="config-charset"></a>3.30. config_charset</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
When defined, Mutt will recode commands in rc files from this
encoding to the current character set as specified by <a class="link" href="#charset" title="3.25. charset">$charset</a>
and aliases written to <a class="link" href="#alias-file" title="3.3. alias_file">$alias_file</a> from the current character set.
</p><p>
Please note that if setting <a class="link" href="#charset" title="3.25. charset">$charset</a> it must be done before
setting <a class="link" href="#config-charset" title="3.30. config_charset">$config_charset</a>.
</p><p>
Recoding should be avoided as it may render unconvertable
characters as question marks which can lead to undesired
side effects (for example in regular expressions).
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="confirmappend"></a>3.31. confirmappend</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when appending messages to
an existing mailbox.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="confirmcreate"></a>3.32. confirmcreate</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when saving messages to a
mailbox which does not yet exist before creating it.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="connect-timeout"></a>3.33. connect_timeout</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 30</p></div><p>
Causes Mutt to timeout a network connection (for IMAP, POP or SMTP) after this
many seconds if the connection is not able to be established.  A negative
value causes Mutt to wait indefinitely for the connection attempt to succeed.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="content-type"></a>3.34. content_type</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">text/plain</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
Sets the default Content-Type for the body of newly composed messages.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="copy"></a>3.35. copy</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
This variable controls whether or not copies of your outgoing messages
will be saved for later references.  Also see <a class="link" href="#record" title="3.217. record">$record</a>,
<a class="link" href="#save-name" title="3.231. save_name">$save_name</a>, <a class="link" href="#force-name" title="3.71. force_name">$force_name</a> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#fcc-hook" title="17. Specify Default Fcc: Mailbox When Composing">fcc-hook</a></span>”</span>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="crypt-autoencrypt"></a>3.36. crypt_autoencrypt</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to PGP
encrypt outgoing messages.  This is probably only useful in
connection to the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#send-hook" title="19. Change Settings Based Upon Message Recipients">send-hook</a></span>”</span> command.  It can be overridden
by use of the pgp menu, when encryption is not required or
signing is requested as well.  If <a class="link" href="#smime-is-default" title="3.260. smime_is_default">$smime_is_default</a> is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>,
then OpenSSL is used instead to create S/MIME messages and
settings can be overridden by use of the smime menu instead.
(Crypto only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="crypt-autopgp"></a>3.37. crypt_autopgp</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
This variable controls whether or not mutt may automatically enable
PGP encryption/signing for messages.  See also <a class="link" href="#crypt-autoencrypt" title="3.36. crypt_autoencrypt">$crypt_autoencrypt</a>,
<a class="link" href="#crypt-replyencrypt" title="3.42. crypt_replyencrypt">$crypt_replyencrypt</a>,
<a class="link" href="#crypt-autosign" title="3.38. crypt_autosign">$crypt_autosign</a>, <a class="link" href="#crypt-replysign" title="3.43. crypt_replysign">$crypt_replysign</a> and <a class="link" href="#smime-is-default" title="3.260. smime_is_default">$smime_is_default</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="crypt-autosign"></a>3.38. crypt_autosign</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to
cryptographically sign outgoing messages.  This can be overridden
by use of the pgp menu, when signing is not required or
encryption is requested as well. If <a class="link" href="#smime-is-default" title="3.260. smime_is_default">$smime_is_default</a> is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>,
then OpenSSL is used instead to create S/MIME messages and settings can
be overridden by use of the smime menu instead of the pgp menu.
(Crypto only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="crypt-autosmime"></a>3.39. crypt_autosmime</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
This variable controls whether or not mutt may automatically enable
S/MIME encryption/signing for messages. See also <a class="link" href="#crypt-autoencrypt" title="3.36. crypt_autoencrypt">$crypt_autoencrypt</a>,
<a class="link" href="#crypt-replyencrypt" title="3.42. crypt_replyencrypt">$crypt_replyencrypt</a>,
<a class="link" href="#crypt-autosign" title="3.38. crypt_autosign">$crypt_autosign</a>, <a class="link" href="#crypt-replysign" title="3.43. crypt_replysign">$crypt_replysign</a> and <a class="link" href="#smime-is-default" title="3.260. smime_is_default">$smime_is_default</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="crypt-confirmhook"></a>3.40. crypt_confirmhook</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If set, then you will be prompted for confirmation of keys when using
the <span class="emphasis"><em>crypt-hook</em></span> command.  If unset, no such confirmation prompt will
be presented.  This is generally considered unsafe, especially where
typos are concerned.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="crypt-opportunistic-encrypt"></a>3.41. crypt_opportunistic_encrypt</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
Setting this variable will cause Mutt to automatically enable and
disable encryption, based on whether all message recipient keys
can be located by mutt.
</p><p>
When this option is enabled, mutt will determine the encryption
setting each time the TO, CC, and BCC lists are edited.  If
<a class="link" href="#edit-headers" title="3.59. edit_headers">$edit_headers</a> is set, mutt will also do so each time the message
is edited.
</p><p>
While this is set, encryption settings can't be manually changed.
The pgp or smime menus provide an option to disable the option for
a particular message.
</p><p>
If <a class="link" href="#crypt-autoencrypt" title="3.36. crypt_autoencrypt">$crypt_autoencrypt</a> or <a class="link" href="#crypt-replyencrypt" title="3.42. crypt_replyencrypt">$crypt_replyencrypt</a> enable encryption for
a message, this option will be disabled for the message.  It can
be manually re-enabled in the pgp or smime menus.
(Crypto only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="crypt-replyencrypt"></a>3.42. crypt_replyencrypt</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, automatically PGP or OpenSSL encrypt replies to messages which are
encrypted.
(Crypto only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="crypt-replysign"></a>3.43. crypt_replysign</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, automatically PGP or OpenSSL sign replies to messages which are
signed.
</p><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Note:</strong></span> this does not work on messages that are encrypted
<span class="emphasis"><em>and</em></span> signed!
(Crypto only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="crypt-replysignencrypted"></a>3.44. crypt_replysignencrypted</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, automatically PGP or OpenSSL sign replies to messages
which are encrypted. This makes sense in combination with
<a class="link" href="#crypt-replyencrypt" title="3.42. crypt_replyencrypt">$crypt_replyencrypt</a>, because it allows you to sign all
messages which are automatically encrypted.  This works around
the problem noted in <a class="link" href="#crypt-replysign" title="3.43. crypt_replysign">$crypt_replysign</a>, that mutt is not able
to find out whether an encrypted message is also signed.
(Crypto only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="crypt-timestamp"></a>3.45. crypt_timestamp</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will include a time stamp in the lines surrounding
PGP or S/MIME output, so spoofing such lines is more difficult.
If you are using colors to mark these lines, and rely on these,
you may <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span> this setting.
(Crypto only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="crypt-use-gpgme"></a>3.46. crypt_use_gpgme</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
This variable controls the use of the GPGME-enabled crypto backends.
If it is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span> and Mutt was built with gpgme support, the gpgme code for
S/MIME and PGP will be used instead of the classic code.  Note that
you need to set this option in .muttrc; it won't have any effect when
used interactively.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="crypt-use-pka"></a>3.47. crypt_use_pka</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
Controls whether mutt uses PKA
(see http://www.g10code.de/docs/pka-intro.de.pdf) during signature
verification (only supported by the GPGME backend).
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="crypt-verify-sig"></a>3.48. crypt_verify_sig</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em><span class="quote">“<span class="quote">yes</span>”</span></em></span>, always attempt to verify PGP or S/MIME signatures.
If <span class="emphasis"><em><span class="quote">“<span class="quote">ask-*</span>”</span></em></span>, ask whether or not to verify the signature.
If <span class="emphasis"><em><span class="quote">“<span class="quote">no</span>”</span></em></span>, never attempt to verify cryptographic signatures.
(Crypto only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="date-format"></a>3.49. date_format</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">!%a, %b %d, %Y at %I:%M:%S%p %Z</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This variable controls the format of the date printed by the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">%d</span>”</span>
sequence in <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a>.  This is passed to the <code class="literal">strftime(3)</code>
function to process the date, see the man page for the proper syntax.
</p><p>
Unless the first character in the string is a bang (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">!</span>”</span>), the month
and week day names are expanded according to the locale specified in
the variable <a class="link" href="#locale" title="3.119. locale">$locale</a>. If the first character in the string is a
bang, the bang is discarded, and the month and week day names in the
rest of the string are expanded in the <span class="emphasis"><em>C</em></span> locale (that is in US
English).
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="default-hook"></a>3.50. default_hook</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">~f %s !~P | (~P ~C %s)</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This variable controls how <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#message-hook" title="20. Change Settings Before Formatting a Message">message-hook</a></span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#reply-hook">reply-hook</a></span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#send-hook" title="19. Change Settings Based Upon Message Recipients">send-hook</a></span>”</span>,
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#send2-hook">send2-hook</a></span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#save-hook" title="16. Specify Default Save Mailbox">save-hook</a></span>”</span>, and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#fcc-hook" title="17. Specify Default Fcc: Mailbox When Composing">fcc-hook</a></span>”</span> will
be interpreted if they are specified with only a simple regexp,
instead of a matching pattern.  The hooks are expanded when they are
declared, so a hook will be interpreted according to the value of this
variable at the time the hook is declared.
</p><p>
The default value matches
if the message is either from a user matching the regular expression
given, or if it is from you (if the from address matches
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#alternates" title="11. Alternative Addresses">alternates</a></span>”</span>) and is to or cc'ed to a user matching the given
regular expression.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="delete"></a>3.51. delete</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: ask-yes</p></div><p>
Controls whether or not messages are really deleted when closing or
synchronizing a mailbox.  If set to <span class="emphasis"><em>yes</em></span>, messages marked for
deleting will automatically be purged without prompting.  If set to
<span class="emphasis"><em>no</em></span>, messages marked for deletion will be kept in the mailbox.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="delete-untag"></a>3.52. delete_untag</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If this option is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will untag messages when marking them
for deletion.  This applies when you either explicitly delete a message,
or when you save it to another folder.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="digest-collapse"></a>3.53. digest_collapse</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If this option is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt's received-attachments menu will not show the subparts of
individual messages in a multipart/digest.  To see these subparts, press <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">v</span>”</span> on that menu.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="display-filter"></a>3.54. display_filter</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
When set, specifies a command used to filter messages.  When a message
is viewed it is passed as standard input to <a class="link" href="#display-filter" title="3.54. display_filter">$display_filter</a>, and the
filtered message is read from the standard output.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="dotlock-program"></a>3.55. dotlock_program</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">/usr/local/bin/mutt_dotlock</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
Contains the path of the <code class="literal">mutt_dotlock(8)</code> binary to be used by
mutt.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="dsn-notify"></a>3.56. dsn_notify</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This variable sets the request for when notification is returned.  The
string consists of a comma separated list (no spaces!) of one or more
of the following: <span class="emphasis"><em>never</em></span>, to never request notification,
<span class="emphasis"><em>failure</em></span>, to request notification on transmission failure,
<span class="emphasis"><em>delay</em></span>, to be notified of message delays, <span class="emphasis"><em>success</em></span>, to be
notified of successful transmission.
</p><p>
Example:

</p><pre class="screen">
set dsn_notify="failure,delay"
</pre><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Note:</strong></span> when using <a class="link" href="#sendmail" title="3.238. sendmail">$sendmail</a> for delivery, you should not enable
this unless you are either using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater or a MTA
providing a <code class="literal">sendmail(1)</code>-compatible interface supporting the <code class="literal">-N</code> option
for DSN. For SMTP delivery, DSN support is auto-detected so that it
depends on the server whether DSN will be used or not.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="dsn-return"></a>3.57. dsn_return</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This variable controls how much of your message is returned in DSN
messages.  It may be set to either <span class="emphasis"><em>hdrs</em></span> to return just the
message header, or <span class="emphasis"><em>full</em></span> to return the full message.
</p><p>
Example:

</p><pre class="screen">
set dsn_return=hdrs
</pre><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Note:</strong></span> when using <a class="link" href="#sendmail" title="3.238. sendmail">$sendmail</a> for delivery, you should not enable
this unless you are either using Sendmail 8.8.x or greater or a MTA
providing a <code class="literal">sendmail(1)</code>-compatible interface supporting the <code class="literal">-R</code> option
for DSN. For SMTP delivery, DSN support is auto-detected so that it
depends on the server whether DSN will be used or not.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="duplicate-threads"></a>3.58. duplicate_threads</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
This variable controls whether mutt, when <a class="link" href="#sort" title="3.271. sort">$sort</a> is set to <span class="emphasis"><em>threads</em></span>, threads
messages with the same Message-Id together.  If it is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, it will indicate
that it thinks they are duplicates of each other with an equals sign
in the thread tree.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="edit-headers"></a>3.59. edit_headers</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
This option allows you to edit the header of your outgoing messages
along with the body of your message.
</p><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Note</strong></span> that changes made to the References: and Date: headers are
ignored for interoperability reasons.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="editor"></a>3.60. editor</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This variable specifies which editor is used by mutt.
It defaults to the value of the <code class="literal">$VISUAL</code>, or <code class="literal">$EDITOR</code>, environment
variable, or to the string <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">vi</span>”</span> if neither of those are set.
</p><p>
The <code class="literal"><a class="link" href="#editor" title="3.60. editor">$editor</a></code> string may contain a <span class="emphasis"><em>%s</em></span> escape, which will be replaced by the name
of the file to be edited.  If the <span class="emphasis"><em>%s</em></span> escape does not appear in <code class="literal"><a class="link" href="#editor" title="3.60. editor">$editor</a></code>, a
space and the name to be edited are appended.
</p><p>
The resulting string is then executed by running

</p><pre class="screen">
sh -c 'string'
</pre><p>
where <span class="emphasis"><em>string</em></span> is the expansion of <code class="literal"><a class="link" href="#editor" title="3.60. editor">$editor</a></code> described above.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="encode-from"></a>3.61. encode_from</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will quoted-printable encode messages when
they contain the string <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">From </span>”</span> (note the trailing space) in the beginning of a line.
This is useful to avoid the tampering certain mail delivery and transport
agents tend to do with messages (in order to prevent tools from
misinterpreting the line as a mbox message separator).
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="entropy-file"></a>3.62. entropy_file</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
The file which includes random data that is used to initialize SSL
library functions.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="envelope-from-address"></a>3.63. envelope_from_address</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: e-mail address<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Manually sets the <span class="emphasis"><em>envelope</em></span> sender for outgoing messages.
This value is ignored if <a class="link" href="#use-envelope-from" title="3.312. use_envelope_from">$use_envelope_from</a> is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="escape"></a>3.64. escape</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">~</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
Escape character to use for functions in the built-in editor.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="fast-reply"></a>3.65. fast_reply</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, the initial prompt for recipients and subject are skipped
when replying to messages, and the initial prompt for subject is
skipped when forwarding messages.
</p><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Note:</strong></span> this variable has no effect when the <a class="link" href="#autoedit" title="3.18. autoedit">$autoedit</a>
variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="fcc-attach"></a>3.66. fcc_attach</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
This variable controls whether or not attachments on outgoing messages
are saved along with the main body of your message.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="fcc-clear"></a>3.67. fcc_clear</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When this variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, FCCs will be stored unencrypted and
unsigned, even when the actual message is encrypted and/or
signed.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="folder"></a>3.68. folder</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">~/Mail</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
Specifies the default location of your mailboxes.  A <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">+</span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">=</span>”</span> at the
beginning of a pathname will be expanded to the value of this
variable.  Note that if you change this variable (from the default)
value you need to make sure that the assignment occurs <span class="emphasis"><em>before</em></span>
you use <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">+</span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">=</span>”</span> for any other variables since expansion takes place
when handling the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#mailboxes" title="14. Monitoring Incoming Mail">mailboxes</a></span>”</span> command.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="folder-format"></a>3.69. folder_format</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">%2C %t %N %F %2l %-8.8u %-8.8g %8s %d %f</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This variable allows you to customize the file browser display to your
personal taste.  This string is similar to <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a>, but has
its own set of <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences:

</p><div class="informaltable"><table border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>%C  </td><td>current file number
</td></tr><tr><td>%d  </td><td>date/time folder was last modified
</td></tr><tr><td>%D  </td><td>date/time folder was last modified using <a class="link" href="#date-format" title="3.49. date_format">$date_format</a>.
</td></tr><tr><td>%f  </td><td>filename (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">/</span>”</span> is appended to directory names,
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">@</span>”</span> to symbolic links and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">*</span>”</span> to executable
files)
</td></tr><tr><td>%F  </td><td>file permissions
</td></tr><tr><td>%g  </td><td>group name (or numeric gid, if missing)
</td></tr><tr><td>%l  </td><td>number of hard links
</td></tr><tr><td>%N  </td><td>N if folder has new mail, blank otherwise
</td></tr><tr><td>%s  </td><td>size in bytes
</td></tr><tr><td>%t  </td><td><span class="quote">“<span class="quote">*</span>”</span> if the file is tagged, blank otherwise
</td></tr><tr><td>%u  </td><td>owner name (or numeric uid, if missing)
</td></tr><tr><td>%&gt;X </td><td>right justify the rest of the string and pad with character <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X</span>”</span>
</td></tr><tr><td>%|X </td><td>pad to the end of the line with character <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X</span>”</span>
</td></tr><tr><td>%*X </td><td>soft-fill with character <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X</span>”</span> as pad
</td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>
For an explanation of <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">soft-fill</span>”</span>, see the <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a> documentation.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="followup-to"></a>3.70. followup_to</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
Controls whether or not the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Mail-Followup-To:</span>”</span> header field is
generated when sending mail.  When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will generate this
field when you are replying to a known mailing list, specified with
the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#subscribe">subscribe</a></span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#lists" title="12. Mailing Lists">lists</a></span>”</span> commands.
</p><p>
This field has two purposes.  First, preventing you from
receiving duplicate copies of replies to messages which you send
to mailing lists, and second, ensuring that you do get a reply
separately for any messages sent to known lists to which you are
not subscribed.
</p><p>
The header will contain only the list's address
for subscribed lists, and both the list address and your own
email address for unsubscribed lists.  Without this header, a
group reply to your message sent to a subscribed list will be
sent to both the list and your address, resulting in two copies
of the same email for you.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="force-name"></a>3.71. force_name</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
This variable is similar to <a class="link" href="#save-name" title="3.231. save_name">$save_name</a>, except that Mutt will
store a copy of your outgoing message by the username of the address
you are sending to even if that mailbox does not exist.
</p><p>
Also see the <a class="link" href="#record" title="3.217. record">$record</a> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="forward-decode"></a>3.72. forward_decode</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages into <code class="literal">text/plain</code> when
forwarding a message.  The message header is also RFC2047 decoded.
This variable is only used, if <a class="link" href="#mime-forward" title="3.144. mime_forward">$mime_forward</a> is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>,
otherwise <a class="link" href="#mime-forward-decode" title="3.145. mime_forward_decode">$mime_forward_decode</a> is used instead.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="forward-decrypt"></a>3.73. forward_decrypt</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
Controls the handling of encrypted messages when forwarding a message.
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, the outer layer of encryption is stripped off.  This
variable is only used if <a class="link" href="#mime-forward" title="3.144. mime_forward">$mime_forward</a> is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span> and
<a class="link" href="#mime-forward-decode" title="3.145. mime_forward_decode">$mime_forward_decode</a> is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="forward-edit"></a>3.74. forward_edit</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
This quadoption controls whether or not the user is automatically
placed in the editor when forwarding messages.  For those who always want
to forward with no modification, use a setting of <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">no</span>”</span>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="forward-format"></a>3.75. forward_format</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">[%a: %s]</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This variable controls the default subject when forwarding a message.
It uses the same format sequences as the <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="forward-quote"></a>3.76. forward_quote</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, forwarded messages included in the main body of the
message (when <a class="link" href="#mime-forward" title="3.144. mime_forward">$mime_forward</a> is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>) will be quoted using
<a class="link" href="#indent-string" title="3.115. indent_string">$indent_string</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="from"></a>3.77. from</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: e-mail address<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, this variable contains a default from address.  It
can be overridden using <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#my-hdr" title="15. User-Defined Headers">my_hdr</a></span>”</span> (including from a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#send-hook" title="19. Change Settings Based Upon Message Recipients">send-hook</a></span>”</span>) and
<a class="link" href="#reverse-name" title="3.225. reverse_name">$reverse_name</a>.  This variable is ignored if <a class="link" href="#use-from" title="3.313. use_from">$use_from</a> is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>.
</p><p>
This setting defaults to the contents of the environment variable <code class="literal">$EMAIL</code>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="gecos-mask"></a>3.78. gecos_mask</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: regular expression<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">^[^,]*</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
A regular expression used by mutt to parse the GECOS field of a password
entry when expanding the alias.  The default value
will return the string up to the first <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">,</span>”</span> encountered.
If the GECOS field contains a string like <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">lastname, firstname</span>”</span> then you
should set it to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">.*</code></span>”</span>.
</p><p>
This can be useful if you see the following behavior: you address an e-mail
to user ID <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">stevef</span>”</span> whose full name is <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Steve Franklin</span>”</span>.  If mutt expands
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">stevef</span>”</span> to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">"Franklin" stevef@foo.bar</span>”</span> then you should set the <a class="link" href="#gecos-mask" title="3.78. gecos_mask">$gecos_mask</a> to
a regular expression that will match the whole name so mutt will expand
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Franklin</span>”</span> to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Franklin, Steve</span>”</span>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="hdrs"></a>3.79. hdrs</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, the header fields normally added by the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#my-hdr" title="15. User-Defined Headers">my_hdr</a></span>”</span>
command are not created.  This variable <span class="emphasis"><em>must</em></span> be unset before
composing a new message or replying in order to take effect.  If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>,
the user defined header fields are added to every new message.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="header"></a>3.80. header</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, this variable causes Mutt to include the header
of the message you are replying to into the edit buffer.
The <a class="link" href="#weed" title="3.319. weed">$weed</a> setting applies.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="header-cache"></a>3.81. header_cache</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This variable points to the header cache database.
If pointing to a directory Mutt will contain a header cache
database file per folder, if pointing to a file that file will
be a single global header cache. By default it is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span> so no header
caching will be used.
</p><p>
Header caching can greatly improve speed when opening POP, IMAP
MH or Maildir folders, see <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#caching" title="7. Local Caching">caching</a></span>”</span> for details.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="header-cache-compress"></a>3.82. header_cache_compress</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When mutt is compiled with qdbm or tokyocabinet as header cache backend,
this option determines whether the database will be compressed.
Compression results in database files roughly being one fifth
of the usual diskspace, but the decompression can result in a
slower opening of cached folder(s) which in general is still
much faster than opening non header cached folders.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="header-cache-pagesize"></a>3.83. header_cache_pagesize</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">16384</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
When mutt is compiled with either gdbm or bdb4 as the header cache backend,
this option changes the database page size.  Too large or too small
values can waste space, memory, or CPU time. The default should be more
or less optimal for most use cases.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="help"></a>3.84. help</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, help lines describing the bindings for the major functions
provided by each menu are displayed on the first line of the screen.
</p><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Note:</strong></span> The binding will not be displayed correctly if the
function is bound to a sequence rather than a single keystroke.  Also,
the help line may not be updated if a binding is changed while Mutt is
running.  Since this variable is primarily aimed at new users, neither
of these should present a major problem.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="hidden-host"></a>3.85. hidden_host</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will skip the host name part of <a class="link" href="#hostname" title="3.95. hostname">$hostname</a> variable
when adding the domain part to addresses.  This variable does not
affect the generation of Message-IDs, and it will not lead to the
cut-off of first-level domains.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="hide-limited"></a>3.86. hide_limited</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will not show the presence of messages that are hidden
by limiting, in the thread tree.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="hide-missing"></a>3.87. hide_missing</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will not show the presence of missing messages in the
thread tree.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="hide-thread-subject"></a>3.88. hide_thread_subject</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will not show the subject of messages in the thread
tree that have the same subject as their parent or closest previously
displayed sibling.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="hide-top-limited"></a>3.89. hide_top_limited</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will not show the presence of messages that are hidden
by limiting, at the top of threads in the thread tree.  Note that when
<a class="link" href="#hide-limited" title="3.86. hide_limited">$hide_limited</a> is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, this option will have no effect.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="hide-top-missing"></a>3.90. hide_top_missing</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will not show the presence of missing messages at the
top of threads in the thread tree.  Note that when <a class="link" href="#hide-missing" title="3.87. hide_missing">$hide_missing</a> is
<span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, this option will have no effect.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="history"></a>3.91. history</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 10</p></div><p>
This variable controls the size (in number of strings remembered) of
the string history buffer per category. The buffer is cleared each time the
variable is set.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="history-file"></a>3.92. history_file</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">~/.mutthistory</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
The file in which Mutt will save its history.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="honor-disposition"></a>3.93. honor_disposition</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will not display attachments with a
disposition of <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">attachment</span>”</span> inline even if it could
render the part to plain text. These MIME parts can only
be viewed from the attachment menu.
</p><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, Mutt will render all MIME parts it can
properly transform to plain text.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="honor-followup-to"></a>3.94. honor_followup_to</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
This variable controls whether or not a Mail-Followup-To header is
honored when group-replying to a message.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="hostname"></a>3.95. hostname</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Specifies the fully-qualified hostname of the system mutt is running on
containing the host's name and the DNS domain it belongs to. It is used
as the domain part (after <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">@</span>”</span>) for local email addresses as well as
Message-Id headers.
</p><p>
Its value is determined at startup as follows: If the node's name
as returned by the <code class="literal">uname(3)</code> function contains the hostname and the
domain, these are used to construct <a class="link" href="#hostname" title="3.95. hostname">$hostname</a>. If there is no
domain part returned, Mutt will look for a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">domain</span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">search</span>”</span>
line in <code class="literal">/etc/resolv.conf</code> to determine the domain. Optionally, Mutt
can be compiled with a fixed domain name in which case a detected
one is not used.
</p><p>
Also see <a class="link" href="#use-domain" title="3.311. use_domain">$use_domain</a> and <a class="link" href="#hidden-host" title="3.85. hidden_host">$hidden_host</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ignore-linear-white-space"></a>3.96. ignore_linear_white_space</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
This option replaces linear-white-space between encoded-word
and text to a single space to prevent the display of MIME-encoded
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Subject:</span>”</span> field from being divided into multiple lines.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ignore-list-reply-to"></a>3.97. ignore_list_reply_to</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
Affects the behavior of the <code class="literal">&lt;reply&gt;</code> function when replying to
messages from mailing lists (as defined by the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#subscribe">subscribe</a></span>”</span> or
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#lists" title="12. Mailing Lists">lists</a></span>”</span> commands).  When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, if the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Reply-To:</span>”</span> field is
set to the same value as the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">To:</span>”</span> field, Mutt assumes that the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Reply-To:</span>”</span> field was set by the mailing list to automate responses
to the list, and will ignore this field.  To direct a response to the
mailing list when this option is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, use the <code class="literal"><a class="link" href="#list-reply">&lt;list-reply&gt;</a></code>
function; <code class="literal">&lt;group-reply&gt;</code> will reply to both the sender and the
list.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="imap-authenticators"></a>3.98. imap_authenticators</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt may
attempt to use to log in to an IMAP server, in the order mutt should
try them.  Authentication methods are either <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">login</span>”</span> or the right
side of an IMAP <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">AUTH=xxx</span>”</span> capability string, e.g. <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">digest-md5</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">gssapi</span>”</span>
or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">cram-md5</span>”</span>. This option is case-insensitive. If it's
<span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span> (the default) mutt will try all available methods,
in order from most-secure to least-secure.
</p><p>
Example:

</p><pre class="screen">
set imap_authenticators="gssapi:cram-md5:login"
</pre><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Note:</strong></span> Mutt will only fall back to other authentication methods if
the previous methods are unavailable. If a method is available but
authentication fails, mutt will not connect to the IMAP server.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="imap-check-subscribed"></a>3.99. imap_check_subscribed</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will fetch the set of subscribed folders from
your server on connection, and add them to the set of mailboxes
it polls for new mail just as if you had issued individual <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#mailboxes" title="14. Monitoring Incoming Mail">mailboxes</a></span>”</span>
commands.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="imap-delim-chars"></a>3.100. imap_delim_chars</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">/.</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This contains the list of characters which you would like to treat
as folder separators for displaying IMAP paths. In particular it
helps in using the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">=</span>”</span> shortcut for your <span class="emphasis"><em>folder</em></span> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="imap-headers"></a>3.101. imap_headers</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Mutt requests these header fields in addition to the default headers
(<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Date:</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">From:</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Subject:</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">To:</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Cc:</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Message-Id:</span>”</span>,
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">References:</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Content-Type:</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Content-Description:</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">In-Reply-To:</span>”</span>,
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Reply-To:</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Lines:</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">List-Post:</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X-Label:</span>”</span>) from IMAP
servers before displaying the index menu. You may want to add more
headers for spam detection.
</p><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Note:</strong></span> This is a space separated list, items should be uppercase
and not contain the colon, e.g. <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X-BOGOSITY X-SPAM-STATUS</span>”</span> for the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X-Bogosity:</span>”</span> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X-Spam-Status:</span>”</span> header fields.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="imap-idle"></a>3.102. imap_idle</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will attempt to use the IMAP IDLE extension
to check for new mail in the current mailbox. Some servers
(dovecot was the inspiration for this option) react badly
to mutt's implementation. If your connection seems to freeze
up periodically, try unsetting this.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="imap-keepalive"></a>3.103. imap_keepalive</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 300</p></div><p>
This variable specifies the maximum amount of time in seconds that mutt
will wait before polling open IMAP connections, to prevent the server
from closing them before mutt has finished with them. The default is
well within the RFC-specified minimum amount of time (30 minutes) before
a server is allowed to do this, but in practice the RFC does get
violated every now and then. Reduce this number if you find yourself
getting disconnected from your IMAP server due to inactivity.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="imap-list-subscribed"></a>3.104. imap_list_subscribed</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
This variable configures whether IMAP folder browsing will look for
only subscribed folders or all folders.  This can be toggled in the
IMAP browser with the <code class="literal">&lt;toggle-subscribed&gt;</code> function.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="imap-login"></a>3.105. imap_login</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Your login name on the IMAP server.
</p><p>
This variable defaults to the value of <a class="link" href="#imap-user" title="3.111. imap_user">$imap_user</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="imap-pass"></a>3.106. imap_pass</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Specifies the password for your IMAP account.  If <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, Mutt will
prompt you for your password when you invoke the <code class="literal">&lt;imap-fetch-mail&gt;</code> function
or try to open an IMAP folder.
</p><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Warning</strong></span>: you should only use this option when you are on a
fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your muttrc even
if you are the only one who can read the file.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="imap-passive"></a>3.107. imap_passive</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will not open new IMAP connections to check for new
mail.  Mutt will only check for new mail over existing IMAP
connections.  This is useful if you don't want to be prompted to
user/password pairs on mutt invocation, or if opening the connection
is slow.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="imap-peek"></a>3.108. imap_peek</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will avoid implicitly marking your mail as read whenever
you fetch a message from the server. This is generally a good thing,
but can make closing an IMAP folder somewhat slower. This option
exists to appease speed freaks.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="imap-pipeline-depth"></a>3.109. imap_pipeline_depth</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 15</p></div><p>
Controls the number of IMAP commands that may be queued up before they
are sent to the server. A deeper pipeline reduces the amount of time
mutt must wait for the server, and can make IMAP servers feel much
more responsive. But not all servers correctly handle pipelined commands,
so if you have problems you might want to try setting this variable to 0.
</p><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Note:</strong></span> Changes to this variable have no effect on open connections.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="imap-servernoise"></a>3.110. imap_servernoise</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will display warning messages from the IMAP
server as error messages. Since these messages are often
harmless, or generated due to configuration problems on the
server which are out of the users' hands, you may wish to suppress
them at some point.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="imap-user"></a>3.111. imap_user</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
The name of the user whose mail you intend to access on the IMAP
server.
</p><p>
This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="implicit-autoview"></a>3.112. implicit_autoview</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If set to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">yes</span>”</span>, mutt will look for a mailcap entry with the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">copiousoutput</code></span>”</span> flag set for <span class="emphasis"><em>every</em></span> MIME attachment it doesn't have
an internal viewer defined for.  If such an entry is found, mutt will
use the viewer defined in that entry to convert the body part to text
form.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="include"></a>3.113. include</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: ask-yes</p></div><p>
Controls whether or not a copy of the message(s) you are replying to
is included in your reply.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="include-onlyfirst"></a>3.114. include_onlyfirst</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
Controls whether or not Mutt includes only the first attachment
of the message you are replying.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="indent-string"></a>3.115. indent_string</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">&gt; </code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
Specifies the string to prepend to each line of text quoted in a
message to which you are replying.  You are strongly encouraged not to
change this value, as it tends to agitate the more fanatical netizens.
</p><p>
The value of this option is ignored if <a class="link" href="#text-flowed" title="3.297. text_flowed">$text_flowed</a> is set, too because
the quoting mechanism is strictly defined for format=flowed.
</p><p>
This option is a format string, please see the description of
<a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a> for supported <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-style sequences.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="index-format"></a>3.116. index_format</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">%4C %Z %{%b %d} %-15.15L (%?l?%4l&amp;%4c?) %s</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This variable allows you to customize the message index display to
your personal taste.
</p><p>
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Format strings</span>”</span> are similar to the strings used in the C
function <code class="literal">printf(3)</code> to format output (see the man page for more details).
The following sequences are defined in Mutt:

</p><div class="informaltable"><table border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>%a </td><td>address of the author
</td></tr><tr><td>%A </td><td>reply-to address (if present; otherwise: address of author)
</td></tr><tr><td>%b </td><td>filename of the original message folder (think mailbox)
</td></tr><tr><td>%B </td><td>the list to which the letter was sent, or else the folder name (%b).
</td></tr><tr><td>%c </td><td>number of characters (bytes) in the message
</td></tr><tr><td>%C </td><td>current message number
</td></tr><tr><td>%d </td><td>date and time of the message in the format specified by
<a class="link" href="#date-format" title="3.49. date_format">$date_format</a> converted to sender's time zone
</td></tr><tr><td>%D </td><td>date and time of the message in the format specified by
<a class="link" href="#date-format" title="3.49. date_format">$date_format</a> converted to the local time zone
</td></tr><tr><td>%e </td><td>current message number in thread
</td></tr><tr><td>%E </td><td>number of messages in current thread
</td></tr><tr><td>%f </td><td>sender (address + real name), either From: or Return-Path:
</td></tr><tr><td>%F </td><td>author name, or recipient name if the message is from you
</td></tr><tr><td>%H </td><td>spam attribute(s) of this message
</td></tr><tr><td>%i </td><td>message-id of the current message
</td></tr><tr><td>%l </td><td>number of lines in the message (does not work with maildir,
mh, and possibly IMAP folders)
</td></tr><tr><td>%L </td><td>If an address in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">To:</span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Cc:</span>”</span> header field matches an address
defined by the users <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#subscribe">subscribe</a></span>”</span> command, this displays
"To &lt;list-name&gt;", otherwise the same as %F.
</td></tr><tr><td>%m </td><td>total number of message in the mailbox
</td></tr><tr><td>%M </td><td>number of hidden messages if the thread is collapsed.
</td></tr><tr><td>%N </td><td>message score
</td></tr><tr><td>%n </td><td>author's real name (or address if missing)
</td></tr><tr><td>%O </td><td>original save folder where mutt would formerly have
stashed the message: list name or recipient name
if not sent to a list
</td></tr><tr><td>%P </td><td>progress indicator for the built-in pager (how much of the file has been displayed)
</td></tr><tr><td>%s </td><td>subject of the message
</td></tr><tr><td>%S </td><td>status of the message (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">N</span>”</span>/<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">D</span>”</span>/<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">d</span>”</span>/<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">!</span>”</span>/<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">r</span>”</span>/*)
</td></tr><tr><td>%t </td><td><span class="quote">“<span class="quote">To:</span>”</span> field (recipients)
</td></tr><tr><td>%T </td><td>the appropriate character from the <a class="link" href="#to-chars" title="3.304. to_chars">$to_chars</a> string
</td></tr><tr><td>%u </td><td>user (login) name of the author
</td></tr><tr><td>%v </td><td>first name of the author, or the recipient if the message is from you
</td></tr><tr><td>%X </td><td>number of attachments
(please see the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#attachments" title="6. Attachment Searching and Counting">attachments</a></span>”</span> section for possible speed effects)
</td></tr><tr><td>%y </td><td><span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X-Label:</span>”</span> field, if present
</td></tr><tr><td>%Y </td><td><span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X-Label:</span>”</span> field, if present, and <span class="emphasis"><em>(1)</em></span> not at part of a thread tree,
<span class="emphasis"><em>(2)</em></span> at the top of a thread, or <span class="emphasis"><em>(3)</em></span> <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X-Label:</span>”</span> is different from
preceding message's <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X-Label:</span>”</span>.
</td></tr><tr><td>%Z </td><td>message status flags
</td></tr><tr><td>%{fmt} </td><td>the date and time of the message is converted to sender's
time zone, and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">fmt</span>”</span> is expanded by the library function
<code class="literal">strftime(3)</code>; a leading bang disables locales
</td></tr><tr><td>%[fmt] </td><td>the date and time of the message is converted to the local
time zone, and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">fmt</span>”</span> is expanded by the library function
<code class="literal">strftime(3)</code>; a leading bang disables locales
</td></tr><tr><td>%(fmt) </td><td>the local date and time when the message was received.
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">fmt</span>”</span> is expanded by the library function <code class="literal">strftime(3)</code>;
a leading bang disables locales
</td></tr><tr><td>%&lt;fmt&gt; </td><td>the current local time. <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">fmt</span>”</span> is expanded by the library
function <code class="literal">strftime(3)</code>; a leading bang disables locales.
</td></tr><tr><td>%&gt;X    </td><td>right justify the rest of the string and pad with character <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X</span>”</span>
</td></tr><tr><td>%|X    </td><td>pad to the end of the line with character <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X</span>”</span>
</td></tr><tr><td>%*X    </td><td>soft-fill with character <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X</span>”</span> as pad
</td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Soft-fill</span>”</span> deserves some explanation: Normal right-justification
will print everything to the left of the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">%&gt;</span>”</span>, displaying padding and
whatever lies to the right only if there's room. By contrast,
soft-fill gives priority to the right-hand side, guaranteeing space
to display it and showing padding only if there's still room. If
necessary, soft-fill will eat text leftwards to make room for
rightward text.
</p><p>
Note that these expandos are supported in
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#save-hook" title="16. Specify Default Save Mailbox">save-hook</a></span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#fcc-hook" title="17. Specify Default Fcc: Mailbox When Composing">fcc-hook</a></span>”</span> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#fcc-save-hook" title="18. Specify Default Save Filename and Default Fcc: Mailbox at Once">fcc-save-hook</a></span>”</span>, too.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ispell"></a>3.117. ispell</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">ispell</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
How to invoke ispell (GNU's spell-checking software).
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="keep-flagged"></a>3.118. keep_flagged</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, read messages marked as flagged will not be moved
from your spool mailbox to your <a class="link" href="#mbox" title="3.130. mbox">$mbox</a> mailbox, or as a result of
a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#mbox-hook" title="13. Using Multiple Spool Mailboxes">mbox-hook</a></span>”</span> command.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="locale"></a>3.119. locale</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">C</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
The locale used by <code class="literal">strftime(3)</code> to format dates. Legal values are
the strings your system accepts for the locale environment variable <code class="literal">$LC_TIME</code>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mail-check"></a>3.120. mail_check</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 5</p></div><p>
This variable configures how often (in seconds) mutt should look for
new mail. Also see the <a class="link" href="#timeout" title="3.302. timeout">$timeout</a> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mail-check-recent"></a>3.121. mail_check_recent</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will only notify you about new mail that has been received
since the last time you opened the mailbox.  When <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, Mutt will notify you
if any new mail exists in the mailbox, regardless of whether you have visited it
recently.
</p><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em><a class="link" href="#mark-old" title="3.127. mark_old">$mark_old</a></em></span> is set, Mutt does not consider the mailbox to contain new
mail if only old messages exist.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mailcap-path"></a>3.122. mailcap_path</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This variable specifies which files to consult when attempting to
display MIME bodies not directly supported by Mutt.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mailcap-sanitize"></a>3.123. mailcap_sanitize</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will restrict possible characters in mailcap % expandos
to a well-defined set of safe characters.  This is the safe setting,
but we are not sure it doesn't break some more advanced MIME stuff.
</p><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>DON'T CHANGE THIS SETTING UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY SURE WHAT YOU ARE
DOING!</strong></span>
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="maildir-header-cache-verify"></a>3.124. maildir_header_cache_verify</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
Check for Maildir unaware programs other than mutt having modified maildir
files when the header cache is in use.  This incurs one <code class="literal">stat(2)</code> per
message every time the folder is opened (which can be very slow for NFS
folders).
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="maildir-trash"></a>3.125. maildir_trash</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, messages marked as deleted will be saved with the maildir
trashed flag instead of unlinked.  <span class="bold"><strong>Note:</strong></span> this only applies
to maildir-style mailboxes.  Setting it will have no effect on other
mailbox types.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="maildir-check-cur"></a>3.126. maildir_check_cur</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will poll both the new and cur directories of
a maildir folder for new messages.  This might be useful if other
programs interacting with the folder (e.g. dovecot) are moving new
messages to the cur directory.  Note that setting this option may
slow down polling for new messages in large folders, since mutt has
to scan all cur messages.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mark-old"></a>3.127. mark_old</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
Controls whether or not mutt marks <span class="emphasis"><em>new</em></span> <span class="bold"><strong>unread</strong></span>
messages as <span class="emphasis"><em>old</em></span> if you exit a mailbox without reading them.
With this option <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, the next time you start mutt, the messages
will show up with an <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">O</span>”</span> next to them in the index menu,
indicating that they are old.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="markers"></a>3.128. markers</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
Controls the display of wrapped lines in the internal pager. If set, a
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">+</span>”</span> marker is displayed at the beginning of wrapped lines.
</p><p>
Also see the <a class="link" href="#smart-wrap" title="3.246. smart_wrap">$smart_wrap</a> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mask"></a>3.129. mask</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: regular expression<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">!^\.[^.]</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
A regular expression used in the file browser, optionally preceded by
the <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> operator <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">!</span>”</span>.  Only files whose names match this mask
will be shown. The match is always case-sensitive.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mbox"></a>3.130. mbox</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">~/mbox</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This specifies the folder into which read mail in your <a class="link" href="#spoolfile" title="3.277. spoolfile">$spoolfile</a>
folder will be appended.
</p><p>
Also see the <a class="link" href="#move" title="3.149. move">$move</a> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mbox-type"></a>3.131. mbox_type</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: folder magic<br />
Default: mbox</p></div><p>
The default mailbox type used when creating new folders. May be any of
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">mbox</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">MMDF</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">MH</span>”</span> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Maildir</span>”</span>. This is overridden by the
<code class="literal">-m</code> command-line option.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="menu-context"></a>3.132. menu_context</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 0</p></div><p>
This variable controls the number of lines of context that are given
when scrolling through menus. (Similar to <a class="link" href="#pager-context" title="3.153. pager_context">$pager_context</a>.)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="menu-move-off"></a>3.133. menu_move_off</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, the bottom entry of menus will never scroll up past
the bottom of the screen, unless there are less entries than lines.
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, the bottom entry may move off the bottom.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="menu-scroll"></a>3.134. menu_scroll</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, menus will be scrolled up or down one line when you
attempt to move across a screen boundary.  If <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, the screen
is cleared and the next or previous page of the menu is displayed
(useful for slow links to avoid many redraws).
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="message-cache-clean"></a>3.135. message_cache_clean</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will clean out obsolete entries from the message cache when
the mailbox is synchronized. You probably only want to set it
every once in a while, since it can be a little slow
(especially for large folders).
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="message-cachedir"></a>3.136. message_cachedir</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Set this to a directory and mutt will cache copies of messages from
your IMAP and POP servers here. You are free to remove entries at any
time.
</p><p>
When setting this variable to a directory, mutt needs to fetch every
remote message only once and can perform regular expression searches
as fast as for local folders.
</p><p>
Also see the <a class="link" href="#message-cache-clean" title="3.135. message_cache_clean">$message_cache_clean</a> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="message-format"></a>3.137. message_format</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">%s</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This is the string displayed in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">attachment</span>”</span> menu for
attachments of type <code class="literal">message/rfc822</code>.  For a full listing of defined
<code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences see the section on <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="meta-key"></a>3.138. meta_key</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, forces Mutt to interpret keystrokes with the high bit (bit 8)
set as if the user had pressed the Esc key and whatever key remains
after having the high bit removed.  For example, if the key pressed
has an ASCII value of <code class="literal">0xf8</code>, then this is treated as if the user had
pressed Esc then <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">x</span>”</span>.  This is because the result of removing the
high bit from <code class="literal">0xf8</code> is <code class="literal">0x78</code>, which is the ASCII character
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">x</span>”</span>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="metoo"></a>3.139. metoo</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, Mutt will remove your address (see the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#alternates" title="11. Alternative Addresses">alternates</a></span>”</span>
command) from the list of recipients when replying to a message.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mh-purge"></a>3.140. mh_purge</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, mutt will mimic mh's behavior and rename deleted messages
to <span class="emphasis"><em>,&lt;old file name&gt;</em></span> in mh folders instead of really deleting
them. This leaves the message on disk but makes programs reading the folder
ignore it. If the variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, the message files will simply be
deleted.
</p><p>
This option is similar to <a class="link" href="#maildir-trash" title="3.125. maildir_trash">$maildir_trash</a> for Maildir folders.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mh-seq-flagged"></a>3.141. mh_seq_flagged</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">flagged</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
The name of the MH sequence used for flagged messages.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mh-seq-replied"></a>3.142. mh_seq_replied</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">replied</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
The name of the MH sequence used to tag replied messages.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mh-seq-unseen"></a>3.143. mh_seq_unseen</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">unseen</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
The name of the MH sequence used for unseen messages.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mime-forward"></a>3.144. mime_forward</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, the message you are forwarding will be attached as a
separate <code class="literal">message/rfc822</code> MIME part instead of included in the main body of the
message.  This is useful for forwarding MIME messages so the receiver
can properly view the message as it was delivered to you. If you like
to switch between MIME and not MIME from mail to mail, set this
variable to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">ask-no</span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">ask-yes</span>”</span>.
</p><p>
Also see <a class="link" href="#forward-decode" title="3.72. forward_decode">$forward_decode</a> and <a class="link" href="#mime-forward-decode" title="3.145. mime_forward_decode">$mime_forward_decode</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mime-forward-decode"></a>3.145. mime_forward_decode</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages into <code class="literal">text/plain</code> when
forwarding a message while <a class="link" href="#mime-forward" title="3.144. mime_forward">$mime_forward</a> is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>. Otherwise
<a class="link" href="#forward-decode" title="3.72. forward_decode">$forward_decode</a> is used instead.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mime-forward-rest"></a>3.146. mime_forward_rest</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When forwarding multiple attachments of a MIME message from the attachment
menu, attachments which cannot be decoded in a reasonable manner will
be attached to the newly composed message if this option is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mix-entry-format"></a>3.147. mix_entry_format</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">%4n %c %-16s %a</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This variable describes the format of a remailer line on the mixmaster
chain selection screen.  The following <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences are
supported:

</p><div class="informaltable"><table border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>%n </td><td>The running number on the menu.
</td></tr><tr><td>%c </td><td>Remailer capabilities.
</td></tr><tr><td>%s </td><td>The remailer's short name.
</td></tr><tr><td>%a </td><td>The remailer's e-mail address.
</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mixmaster"></a>3.148. mixmaster</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">mixmaster</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This variable contains the path to the Mixmaster binary on your
system.  It is used with various sets of parameters to gather the
list of known remailers, and to finally send a message through the
mixmaster chain.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="move"></a>3.149. move</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
Controls whether or not Mutt will move read messages
from your spool mailbox to your <a class="link" href="#mbox" title="3.130. mbox">$mbox</a> mailbox, or as a result of
a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#mbox-hook" title="13. Using Multiple Spool Mailboxes">mbox-hook</a></span>”</span> command.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="narrow-tree"></a>3.150. narrow_tree</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
This variable, when <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, makes the thread tree narrower, allowing
deeper threads to fit on the screen.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="net-inc"></a>3.151. net_inc</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 10</p></div><p>
Operations that expect to transfer a large amount of data over the
network will update their progress every <a class="link" href="#net-inc" title="3.151. net_inc">$net_inc</a> kilobytes.
If set to 0, no progress messages will be displayed.
</p><p>
See also <a class="link" href="#read-inc" title="3.213. read_inc">$read_inc</a>, <a class="link" href="#write-inc" title="3.325. write_inc">$write_inc</a> and <a class="link" href="#net-inc" title="3.151. net_inc">$net_inc</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pager"></a>3.152. pager</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">builtin</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This variable specifies which pager you would like to use to view
messages. The value <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">builtin</span>”</span> means to use the built-in pager, otherwise this
variable should specify the pathname of the external pager you would
like to use.
</p><p>
Using an external pager may have some disadvantages: Additional
keystrokes are necessary because you can't call mutt functions
directly from the pager, and screen resizes cause lines longer than
the screen width to be badly formatted in the help menu.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pager-context"></a>3.153. pager_context</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 0</p></div><p>
This variable controls the number of lines of context that are given
when displaying the next or previous page in the internal pager.  By
default, Mutt will display the line after the last one on the screen
at the top of the next page (0 lines of context).
</p><p>
This variable also specifies the amount of context given for search
results. If positive, this many lines will be given before a match,
if 0, the match will be top-aligned.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pager-format"></a>3.154. pager_format</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">-%Z- %C/%m: %-20.20n   %s%*  -- (%P)</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This variable controls the format of the one-line message <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">status</span>”</span>
displayed before each message in either the internal or an external
pager.  The valid sequences are listed in the <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a>
section.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pager-index-lines"></a>3.155. pager_index_lines</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 0</p></div><p>
Determines the number of lines of a mini-index which is shown when in
the pager.  The current message, unless near the top or bottom of the
folder, will be roughly one third of the way down this mini-index,
giving the reader the context of a few messages before and after the
message.  This is useful, for example, to determine how many messages
remain to be read in the current thread.  One of the lines is reserved
for the status bar from the index, so a setting of 6
will only show 5 lines of the actual index.  A value of 0 results in
no index being shown.  If the number of messages in the current folder
is less than <a class="link" href="#pager-index-lines" title="3.155. pager_index_lines">$pager_index_lines</a>, then the index will only use as
many lines as it needs.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pager-stop"></a>3.156. pager_stop</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, the internal-pager will <span class="bold"><strong>not</strong></span> move to the next message
when you are at the end of a message and invoke the <code class="literal">&lt;next-page&gt;</code>
function.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-auto-decode"></a>3.157. pgp_auto_decode</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will automatically attempt to decrypt traditional PGP
messages whenever the user performs an operation which ordinarily would
result in the contents of the message being operated on.  For example,
if the user displays a pgp-traditional message which has not been manually
checked with the <code class="literal"><a class="link" href="#check-traditional-pgp">&lt;check-traditional-pgp&gt;</a></code> function, mutt will automatically
check the message for traditional pgp.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-autoinline"></a>3.158. pgp_autoinline</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
This option controls whether Mutt generates old-style inline
(traditional) PGP encrypted or signed messages under certain
circumstances.  This can be overridden by use of the pgp menu,
when inline is not required.
</p><p>
Note that Mutt might automatically use PGP/MIME for messages
which consist of more than a single MIME part.  Mutt can be
configured to ask before sending PGP/MIME messages when inline
(traditional) would not work.
</p><p>
Also see the <a class="link" href="#pgp-mime-auto" title="3.174. pgp_mime_auto">$pgp_mime_auto</a> variable.
</p><p>
Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is <span class="bold"><strong>strongly</strong></span>
<span class="bold"><strong>deprecated</strong></span>.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-check-exit"></a>3.159. pgp_check_exit</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will check the exit code of the PGP subprocess when
signing or encrypting.  A non-zero exit code means that the
subprocess failed.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-clearsign-command"></a>3.160. pgp_clearsign_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This format is used to create an old-style <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">clearsigned</span>”</span> PGP
message.  Note that the use of this format is <span class="bold"><strong>strongly</strong></span>
<span class="bold"><strong>deprecated</strong></span>.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#pgp-decode-command" title="3.161. pgp_decode_command">$pgp_decode_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-decode-command"></a>3.161. pgp_decode_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This format strings specifies a command which is used to decode
application/pgp attachments.
</p><p>
The PGP command formats have their own set of <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences:

</p><div class="informaltable"><table border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>%p </td><td>Expands to PGPPASSFD=0 when a pass phrase is needed, to an empty
string otherwise. Note: This may be used with a %? construct.
</td></tr><tr><td>%f </td><td>Expands to the name of a file containing a message.
</td></tr><tr><td>%s </td><td>Expands to the name of a file containing the signature part
           of a <code class="literal">multipart/signed</code> attachment when verifying it.
</td></tr><tr><td>%a </td><td>The value of <a class="link" href="#pgp-sign-as" title="3.178. pgp_sign_as">$pgp_sign_as</a>.
</td></tr><tr><td>%r </td><td>One or more key IDs (or fingerprints if available).
</td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>
For examples on how to configure these formats for the various versions
of PGP which are floating around, see the pgp and gpg sample configuration files in
the <code class="literal">samples/</code> subdirectory which has been installed on your system
alongside the documentation.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-decrypt-command"></a>3.162. pgp_decrypt_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to decrypt a PGP encrypted message.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#pgp-decode-command" title="3.161. pgp_decode_command">$pgp_decode_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-encrypt-only-command"></a>3.163. pgp_encrypt_only_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to encrypt a body part without signing it.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#pgp-decode-command" title="3.161. pgp_decode_command">$pgp_decode_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-encrypt-sign-command"></a>3.164. pgp_encrypt_sign_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to both sign and encrypt a body part.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#pgp-decode-command" title="3.161. pgp_decode_command">$pgp_decode_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-entry-format"></a>3.165. pgp_entry_format</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">%4n %t%f %4l/0x%k %-4a %2c %u</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This variable allows you to customize the PGP key selection menu to
your personal taste. This string is similar to <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a>, but
has its own set of <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences:

</p><div class="informaltable"><table border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>%n     </td><td>number
</td></tr><tr><td>%k     </td><td>key id
</td></tr><tr><td>%u     </td><td>user id
</td></tr><tr><td>%a     </td><td>algorithm
</td></tr><tr><td>%l     </td><td>key length
</td></tr><tr><td>%f     </td><td>flags
</td></tr><tr><td>%c     </td><td>capabilities
</td></tr><tr><td>%t     </td><td>trust/validity of the key-uid association
</td></tr><tr><td>%[&lt;s&gt;] </td><td>date of the key where &lt;s&gt; is an <code class="literal">strftime(3)</code> expression
</td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-export-command"></a>3.166. pgp_export_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to export a public key from the user's
key ring.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#pgp-decode-command" title="3.161. pgp_decode_command">$pgp_decode_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-getkeys-command"></a>3.167. pgp_getkeys_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is invoked whenever Mutt needs to fetch the public key associated with
an email address.  Of the sequences supported by <a class="link" href="#pgp-decode-command" title="3.161. pgp_decode_command">$pgp_decode_command</a>, %r is
the only <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequence used with this format.  Note that
in this case, %r expands to the email address, not the public key ID (the key ID is
unknown, which is why Mutt is invoking this command).
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-good-sign"></a>3.168. pgp_good_sign</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: regular expression<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
If you assign a text to this variable, then a PGP signature is only
considered verified if the output from <a class="link" href="#pgp-verify-command" title="3.184. pgp_verify_command">$pgp_verify_command</a> contains
the text. Use this variable if the exit code from the command is 0
even for bad signatures.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-ignore-subkeys"></a>3.169. pgp_ignore_subkeys</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
Setting this variable will cause Mutt to ignore OpenPGP subkeys. Instead,
the principal key will inherit the subkeys' capabilities.  <span class="emphasis"><em>Unset</em></span> this
if you want to play interesting key selection games.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-import-command"></a>3.170. pgp_import_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to import a key from a message into
the user's public key ring.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#pgp-decode-command" title="3.161. pgp_decode_command">$pgp_decode_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-list-pubring-command"></a>3.171. pgp_list_pubring_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to list the public key ring's contents.  The
output format must be analogous to the one used by

</p><pre class="screen">
gpg --list-keys --with-colons --with-fingerprint
</pre><p>
This format is also generated by the <code class="literal">pgpring</code> utility which comes
with mutt.
</p><p>
Note: gpg's <code class="literal">fixed-list-mode</code> option should not be used.  It
produces a different date format which may result in mutt showing
incorrect key generation dates.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#pgp-decode-command" title="3.161. pgp_decode_command">$pgp_decode_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-list-secring-command"></a>3.172. pgp_list_secring_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to list the secret key ring's contents.  The
output format must be analogous to the one used by:

</p><pre class="screen">
gpg --list-keys --with-colons --with-fingerprint
</pre><p>
This format is also generated by the <code class="literal">pgpring</code> utility which comes
with mutt.
</p><p>
Note: gpg's <code class="literal">fixed-list-mode</code> option should not be used.  It
produces a different date format which may result in mutt showing
incorrect key generation dates.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#pgp-decode-command" title="3.161. pgp_decode_command">$pgp_decode_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-long-ids"></a>3.173. pgp_long_ids</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, use 64 bit PGP key IDs, if <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span> use the normal 32 bit key IDs.
NOTE: Internally, Mutt has transitioned to using fingerprints (or long key IDs
as a fallback).  This option now only controls the display of key IDs
in the key selection menu and a few other places.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-mime-auto"></a>3.174. pgp_mime_auto</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: ask-yes</p></div><p>
This option controls whether Mutt will prompt you for
automatically sending a (signed/encrypted) message using
PGP/MIME when inline (traditional) fails (for any reason).
</p><p>
Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is <span class="bold"><strong>strongly</strong></span>
<span class="bold"><strong>deprecated</strong></span>.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-replyinline"></a>3.175. pgp_replyinline</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to
create an inline (traditional) message when replying to a
message which is PGP encrypted/signed inline.  This can be
overridden by use of the pgp menu, when inline is not
required.  This option does not automatically detect if the
(replied-to) message is inline; instead it relies on Mutt
internals for previously checked/flagged messages.
</p><p>
Note that Mutt might automatically use PGP/MIME for messages
which consist of more than a single MIME part.  Mutt can be
configured to ask before sending PGP/MIME messages when inline
(traditional) would not work.
</p><p>
Also see the <a class="link" href="#pgp-mime-auto" title="3.174. pgp_mime_auto">$pgp_mime_auto</a> variable.
</p><p>
Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is <span class="bold"><strong>strongly</strong></span>
<span class="bold"><strong>deprecated</strong></span>.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-retainable-sigs"></a>3.176. pgp_retainable_sigs</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, signed and encrypted messages will consist of nested
<code class="literal">multipart/signed</code> and <code class="literal">multipart/encrypted</code> body parts.
</p><p>
This is useful for applications like encrypted and signed mailing
lists, where the outer layer (<code class="literal">multipart/encrypted</code>) can be easily
removed, while the inner <code class="literal">multipart/signed</code> part is retained.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-show-unusable"></a>3.177. pgp_show_unusable</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will display non-usable keys on the PGP key selection
menu.  This includes keys which have been revoked, have expired, or
have been marked as <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">disabled</span>”</span> by the user.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-sign-as"></a>3.178. pgp_sign_as</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
If you have more than one key pair, this option allows you to specify
which of your private keys to use.  It is recommended that you use the
keyid form to specify your key (e.g. <code class="literal">0x00112233</code>).
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-sign-command"></a>3.179. pgp_sign_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to create the detached PGP signature for a
<code class="literal">multipart/signed</code> PGP/MIME body part.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#pgp-decode-command" title="3.161. pgp_decode_command">$pgp_decode_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-sort-keys"></a>3.180. pgp_sort_keys</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: sort order<br />
Default: address</p></div><p>
Specifies how the entries in the pgp menu are sorted. The
following are legal values:

</p><div class="informaltable"><table border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>address </td><td>sort alphabetically by user id
</td></tr><tr><td>keyid   </td><td>sort alphabetically by key id
</td></tr><tr><td>date    </td><td>sort by key creation date
</td></tr><tr><td>trust   </td><td>sort by the trust of the key
</td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>
If you prefer reverse order of the above values, prefix it with
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">reverse-</span>”</span>.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-strict-enc"></a>3.181. pgp_strict_enc</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will automatically encode PGP/MIME signed messages as
quoted-printable.  Please note that unsetting this variable may
lead to problems with non-verifyable PGP signatures, so only change
this if you know what you are doing.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-timeout"></a>3.182. pgp_timeout</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 300</p></div><p>
The number of seconds after which a cached passphrase will expire if
not used.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-use-gpg-agent"></a>3.183. pgp_use_gpg_agent</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will use a possibly-running <code class="literal">gpg-agent(1)</code> process.
Note that as of version 2.1, GnuPG no longer exports GPG_AGENT_INFO, so
mutt no longer verifies if the agent is running.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-verify-command"></a>3.184. pgp_verify_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to verify PGP signatures.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#pgp-decode-command" title="3.161. pgp_decode_command">$pgp_decode_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-verify-key-command"></a>3.185. pgp_verify_key_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to verify key information from the key selection
menu.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#pgp-decode-command" title="3.161. pgp_decode_command">$pgp_decode_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(PGP only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pipe-decode"></a>3.186. pipe_decode</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
Used in connection with the <code class="literal">&lt;pipe-message&gt;</code> command.  When <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>,
Mutt will pipe the messages without any preprocessing. When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt
will weed headers and will attempt to decode the messages
first.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pipe-sep"></a>3.187. pipe_sep</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">\n</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
The separator to add between messages when piping a list of tagged
messages to an external Unix command.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pipe-split"></a>3.188. pipe_split</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
Used in connection with the <code class="literal">&lt;pipe-message&gt;</code> function following
<code class="literal">&lt;tag-prefix&gt;</code>.  If this variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, when piping a list of
tagged messages Mutt will concatenate the messages and will pipe them
all concatenated.  When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will pipe the messages one by one.
In both cases the messages are piped in the current sorted order,
and the <a class="link" href="#pipe-sep" title="3.187. pipe_sep">$pipe_sep</a> separator is added after each message.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pop-auth-try-all"></a>3.189. pop_auth_try_all</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will try all available authentication methods.
When <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, Mutt will only fall back to other authentication
methods if the previous methods are unavailable. If a method is
available but authentication fails, Mutt will not connect to the POP server.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pop-authenticators"></a>3.190. pop_authenticators</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt may
attempt to use to log in to an POP server, in the order mutt should
try them.  Authentication methods are either <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">user</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">apop</span>”</span> or any
SASL mechanism, e.g. <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">digest-md5</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">gssapi</span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">cram-md5</span>”</span>.
This option is case-insensitive. If this option is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>
(the default) mutt will try all available methods, in order from
most-secure to least-secure.
</p><p>
Example:

</p><pre class="screen">
set pop_authenticators="digest-md5:apop:user"
</pre></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pop-checkinterval"></a>3.191. pop_checkinterval</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 60</p></div><p>
This variable configures how often (in seconds) mutt should look for
new mail in the currently selected mailbox if it is a POP mailbox.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pop-delete"></a>3.192. pop_delete</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: ask-no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will delete successfully downloaded messages from the POP
server when using the <code class="literal"><a class="link" href="#fetch-mail">&lt;fetch-mail&gt;</a></code> function.  When <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, Mutt will
download messages but also leave them on the POP server.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pop-host"></a>3.193. pop_host</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
The name of your POP server for the <code class="literal"><a class="link" href="#fetch-mail">&lt;fetch-mail&gt;</a></code> function.  You
can also specify an alternative port, username and password, i.e.:

</p><pre class="screen">
[pop[s]://][username[:password]@]popserver[:port]
</pre><p>
where <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">[...]</span>”</span> denotes an optional part.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pop-last"></a>3.194. pop_last</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If this variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will try to use the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">LAST</code></span>”</span> POP command
for retrieving only unread messages from the POP server when using
the <code class="literal"><a class="link" href="#fetch-mail">&lt;fetch-mail&gt;</a></code> function.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pop-pass"></a>3.195. pop_pass</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Specifies the password for your POP account.  If <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, Mutt will
prompt you for your password when you open a POP mailbox.
</p><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Warning</strong></span>: you should only use this option when you are on a
fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your muttrc
even if you are the only one who can read the file.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pop-reconnect"></a>3.196. pop_reconnect</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: ask-yes</p></div><p>
Controls whether or not Mutt will try to reconnect to the POP server if
the connection is lost.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pop-user"></a>3.197. pop_user</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Your login name on the POP server.
</p><p>
This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="post-indent-string"></a>3.198. post_indent_string</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Similar to the <a class="link" href="#attribution" title="3.16. attribution">$attribution</a> variable, Mutt will append this
string after the inclusion of a message which is being replied to.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="postpone"></a>3.199. postpone</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: ask-yes</p></div><p>
Controls whether or not messages are saved in the <a class="link" href="#postponed" title="3.200. postponed">$postponed</a>
mailbox when you elect not to send immediately.
</p><p>
Also see the <a class="link" href="#recall" title="3.216. recall">$recall</a> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="postponed"></a>3.200. postponed</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">~/postponed</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
Mutt allows you to indefinitely <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#postpone" title="3.199. postpone">postpone</a> sending a message</span>”</span> which
you are editing.  When you choose to postpone a message, Mutt saves it
in the mailbox specified by this variable.
</p><p>
Also see the <a class="link" href="#postpone" title="3.199. postpone">$postpone</a> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="postpone-encrypt"></a>3.201. postpone_encrypt</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, postponed messages that are marked for encryption will be
encrypted using the key in <a class="link" href="#postpone-encrypt-as" title="3.202. postpone_encrypt_as">$postpone_encrypt_as</a> before saving.
(Crypto only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="postpone-encrypt-as"></a>3.202. postpone_encrypt_as</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This is the key used to encrypt postponed messages.  It should be in
keyid or fingerprint form (e.g. 0x00112233 for PGP or the
hash-value that OpenSSL generates for S/MIME).
(Crypto only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="preconnect"></a>3.203. preconnect</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, a shell command to be executed if mutt fails to establish
a connection to the server. This is useful for setting up secure
connections, e.g. with <code class="literal">ssh(1)</code>. If the command returns a  nonzero
status, mutt gives up opening the server. Example:

</p><pre class="screen">
set preconnect="ssh -f -q -L 1234:mailhost.net:143 mailhost.net \
sleep 20 &lt; /dev/null &gt; /dev/null"
</pre><p>
Mailbox <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">foo</span>”</span> on <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">mailhost.net</span>”</span> can now be reached
as <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">{localhost:1234}foo</span>”</span>.
</p><p>
Note: For this example to work, you must be able to log in to the
remote machine without having to enter a password.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="print"></a>3.204. print</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: ask-no</p></div><p>
Controls whether or not Mutt really prints messages.
This is set to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">ask-no</span>”</span> by default, because some people
accidentally hit <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">p</span>”</span> often.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="print-command"></a>3.205. print_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">lpr</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This specifies the command pipe that should be used to print messages.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="print-decode"></a>3.206. print_decode</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
Used in connection with the <code class="literal">&lt;print-message&gt;</code> command.  If this
option is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, the message is decoded before it is passed to the
external command specified by <a class="link" href="#print-command" title="3.205. print_command">$print_command</a>.  If this option
is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, no processing will be applied to the message when
printing it.  The latter setting may be useful if you are using
some advanced printer filter which is able to properly format
e-mail messages for printing.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="print-split"></a>3.207. print_split</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
Used in connection with the <code class="literal">&lt;print-message&gt;</code> command.  If this option
is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, the command specified by <a class="link" href="#print-command" title="3.205. print_command">$print_command</a> is executed once for
each message which is to be printed.  If this option is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>,
the command specified by <a class="link" href="#print-command" title="3.205. print_command">$print_command</a> is executed only once, and
all the messages are concatenated, with a form feed as the message
separator.
</p><p>
Those who use the <code class="literal">enscript</code>(1) program's mail-printing mode will
most likely want to <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span> this option.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="prompt-after"></a>3.208. prompt_after</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If you use an <span class="emphasis"><em>external</em></span> <a class="link" href="#pager" title="3.152. pager">$pager</a>, setting this variable will
cause Mutt to prompt you for a command when the pager exits rather
than returning to the index menu.  If <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, Mutt will return to the
index menu when the external pager exits.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="query-command"></a>3.209. query_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This specifies the command Mutt will use to make external address
queries.  The string may contain a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">%s</span>”</span>, which will be substituted
with the query string the user types.  Mutt will add quotes around the
string substituted for <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">%s</span>”</span> automatically according to shell quoting
rules, so you should avoid adding your own.  If no <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">%s</span>”</span> is found in
the string, Mutt will append the user's query to the end of the string.
See <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#query" title="6. External Address Queries">query</a></span>”</span> for more information.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="query-format"></a>3.210. query_format</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">%4c %t %-25.25a %-25.25n %?e?(%e)?</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This variable describes the format of the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">query</span>”</span> menu. The
following <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-style sequences are understood:

</p><div class="informaltable"><table border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>%a  </td><td>destination address
</td></tr><tr><td>%c  </td><td>current entry number
</td></tr><tr><td>%e  </td><td>extra information *
</td></tr><tr><td>%n  </td><td>destination name
</td></tr><tr><td>%t  </td><td><span class="quote">“<span class="quote">*</span>”</span> if current entry is tagged, a space otherwise
</td></tr><tr><td>%&gt;X </td><td>right justify the rest of the string and pad with <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X</span>”</span>
</td></tr><tr><td>%|X </td><td>pad to the end of the line with <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X</span>”</span>
</td></tr><tr><td>%*X </td><td>soft-fill with character <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X</span>”</span> as pad
</td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>
For an explanation of <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">soft-fill</span>”</span>, see the <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a> documentation.
</p><p>
* = can be optionally printed if nonzero, see the <a class="link" href="#status-format" title="3.293. status_format">$status_format</a> documentation.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="quit"></a>3.211. quit</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
This variable controls whether <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">quit</span>”</span> and <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">exit</span>”</span> actually quit
from mutt.  If this option is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, they do quit, if it is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, they
have no effect, and if it is set to <span class="emphasis"><em>ask-yes</em></span> or <span class="emphasis"><em>ask-no</em></span>, you are
prompted for confirmation when you try to quit.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="quote-regexp"></a>3.212. quote_regexp</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: regular expression<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">^([ \t]*[|&gt;:}#])+</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
A regular expression used in the internal pager to determine quoted
sections of text in the body of a message. Quoted text may be filtered
out using the <code class="literal">&lt;toggle-quoted&gt;</code> command, or colored according to the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">color quoted</span>”</span> family of directives.
</p><p>
Higher levels of quoting may be colored differently (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">color quoted1</span>”</span>,
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">color quoted2</span>”</span>, etc.). The quoting level is determined by removing
the last character from the matched text and recursively reapplying
the regular expression until it fails to produce a match.
</p><p>
Match detection may be overridden by the <a class="link" href="#smileys" title="3.247. smileys">$smileys</a> regular expression.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="read-inc"></a>3.213. read_inc</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 10</p></div><p>
If set to a value greater than 0, Mutt will display which message it
is currently on when reading a mailbox or when performing search actions
such as search and limit. The message is printed after
this many messages have been read or searched (e.g., if set to 25, Mutt will
print a message when it is at message 25, and then again when it gets
to message 50).  This variable is meant to indicate progress when
reading or searching large mailboxes which may take some time.
When set to 0, only a single message will appear before the reading
the mailbox.
</p><p>
Also see the <a class="link" href="#write-inc" title="3.325. write_inc">$write_inc</a>, <a class="link" href="#net-inc" title="3.151. net_inc">$net_inc</a> and <a class="link" href="#time-inc" title="3.301. time_inc">$time_inc</a> variables and the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#tuning" title="Chapter 8. Performance Tuning">tuning</a></span>”</span> section of the manual for performance considerations.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="read-only"></a>3.214. read_only</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, all folders are opened in read-only mode.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="realname"></a>3.215. realname</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This variable specifies what <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">real</span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">personal</span>”</span> name should be used
when sending messages.
</p><p>
By default, this is the GECOS field from <code class="literal">/etc/passwd</code>.  Note that this
variable will <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> be used when the user has set a real name
in the <a class="link" href="#from" title="3.77. from">$from</a> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="recall"></a>3.216. recall</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: ask-yes</p></div><p>
Controls whether or not Mutt recalls postponed messages
when composing a new message.
</p><p>
<span class="emphasis"><em>Setting</em></span> this variable to is not generally useful, and thus not
recommended.
</p><p>
Also see <a class="link" href="#postponed" title="3.200. postponed">$postponed</a> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="record"></a>3.217. record</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">~/sent</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This specifies the file into which your outgoing messages should be
appended.  (This is meant as the primary method for saving a copy of
your messages, but another way to do this is using the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#my-hdr" title="15. User-Defined Headers">my_hdr</a></span>”</span>
command to create a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Bcc:</span>”</span> field with your email address in it.)
</p><p>
The value of <span class="emphasis"><em><a class="link" href="#record" title="3.217. record">$record</a></em></span> is overridden by the <a class="link" href="#force-name" title="3.71. force_name">$force_name</a> and
<a class="link" href="#save-name" title="3.231. save_name">$save_name</a> variables, and the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#fcc-hook" title="17. Specify Default Fcc: Mailbox When Composing">fcc-hook</a></span>”</span> command.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="reflow-text"></a>3.218. reflow_text</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will reformat paragraphs in text/plain
parts marked format=flowed.  If <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, Mutt will display paragraphs
unaltered from how they appear in the message body.  See RFC3676 for
details on the <span class="emphasis"><em>format=flowed</em></span> format.
</p><p>
Also see <a class="link" href="#reflow-wrap" title="3.219. reflow_wrap">$reflow_wrap</a>, and <a class="link" href="#wrap" title="3.320. wrap">$wrap</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="reflow-wrap"></a>3.219. reflow_wrap</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 78</p></div><p>
This variable controls the maximum paragraph width when reformatting text/plain
parts when <a class="link" href="#reflow-text" title="3.218. reflow_text">$reflow_text</a> is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>.  When the value is 0, paragraphs will
be wrapped at the terminal's right margin.  A positive value sets the
paragraph width relative to the left margin.  A negative value set the
paragraph width relative to the right margin.
</p><p>
Also see <a class="link" href="#wrap" title="3.320. wrap">$wrap</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="reply-regexp"></a>3.220. reply_regexp</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: regular expression<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">^(re([\[0-9\]+])*|aw):[ \t]*</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
A regular expression used to recognize reply messages when threading
and replying. The default value corresponds to the English "Re:" and
the German "Aw:".
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="reply-self"></a>3.221. reply_self</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span> and you are replying to a message sent by you, Mutt will
assume that you want to reply to the recipients of that message rather
than to yourself.
</p><p>
Also see the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#alternates" title="11. Alternative Addresses">alternates</a></span>”</span> command.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="reply-to"></a>3.222. reply_to</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: ask-yes</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, when replying to a message, Mutt will use the address listed
in the Reply-to: header as the recipient of the reply.  If <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>,
it will use the address in the From: header field instead.  This
option is useful for reading a mailing list that sets the Reply-To:
header field to the list address and you want to send a private
message to the author of a message.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="resolve"></a>3.223. resolve</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, the cursor will be automatically advanced to the next
(possibly undeleted) message whenever a command that modifies the
current message is executed.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="reverse-alias"></a>3.224. reverse_alias</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
This variable controls whether or not Mutt will display the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">personal</span>”</span>
name from your aliases in the index menu if it finds an alias that
matches the message's sender.  For example, if you have the following
alias:

</p><pre class="screen">
alias juser abd30425@somewhere.net (Joe User)
</pre><p>
and then you receive mail which contains the following header:

</p><pre class="screen">
From: abd30425@somewhere.net
</pre><p>
It would be displayed in the index menu as <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Joe User</span>”</span> instead of
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">abd30425@somewhere.net.</span>”</span>  This is useful when the person's e-mail
address is not human friendly.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="reverse-name"></a>3.225. reverse_name</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
It may sometimes arrive that you receive mail to a certain machine,
move the messages to another machine, and reply to some the messages
from there.  If this variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, the default <span class="emphasis"><em>From:</em></span> line of
the reply messages is built using the address where you received the
messages you are replying to <span class="bold"><strong>if</strong></span> that address matches your
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#alternates" title="11. Alternative Addresses">alternates</a></span>”</span>.  If the variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, or the address that would be
used doesn't match your <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#alternates" title="11. Alternative Addresses">alternates</a></span>”</span>, the <span class="emphasis"><em>From:</em></span> line will use
your address on the current machine.
</p><p>
Also see the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#alternates" title="11. Alternative Addresses">alternates</a></span>”</span> command.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="reverse-realname"></a>3.226. reverse_realname</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
This variable fine-tunes the behavior of the <a class="link" href="#reverse-name" title="3.225. reverse_name">$reverse_name</a> feature.
When it is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will use the address from incoming messages as-is,
possibly including eventual real names.  When it is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, mutt will
override any such real names with the setting of the <a class="link" href="#realname" title="3.215. realname">$realname</a> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="rfc2047-parameters"></a>3.227. rfc2047_parameters</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When this variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will decode RFC2047-encoded MIME
parameters. You want to set this variable when mutt suggests you
to save attachments to files named like:

</p><pre class="screen">
=?iso-8859-1?Q?file=5F=E4=5F991116=2Ezip?=
</pre><p>
When this variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span> interactively, the change won't be
active until you change folders.
</p><p>
Note that this use of RFC2047's encoding is explicitly
prohibited by the standard, but nevertheless encountered in the
wild.
</p><p>
Also note that setting this parameter will <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> have the effect
that mutt <span class="emphasis"><em>generates</em></span> this kind of encoding.  Instead, mutt will
unconditionally use the encoding specified in RFC2231.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="save-address"></a>3.228. save_address</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will take the sender's full address when choosing a
default folder for saving a mail. If <a class="link" href="#save-name" title="3.231. save_name">$save_name</a> or <a class="link" href="#force-name" title="3.71. force_name">$force_name</a>
is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span> too, the selection of the Fcc folder will be changed as well.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="save-empty"></a>3.229. save_empty</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, mailboxes which contain no saved messages will be removed
when closed (the exception is <a class="link" href="#spoolfile" title="3.277. spoolfile">$spoolfile</a> which is never removed).
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mailboxes are never removed.
</p><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Note:</strong></span> This only applies to mbox and MMDF folders, Mutt does not
delete MH and Maildir directories.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="save-history"></a>3.230. save_history</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 0</p></div><p>
This variable controls the size of the history (per category) saved in the
<a class="link" href="#history-file" title="3.92. history_file">$history_file</a> file.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="save-name"></a>3.231. save_name</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
This variable controls how copies of outgoing messages are saved.
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, a check is made to see if a mailbox specified by the
recipient address exists (this is done by searching for a mailbox in
the <a class="link" href="#folder" title="3.68. folder">$folder</a> directory with the <span class="emphasis"><em>username</em></span> part of the
recipient address).  If the mailbox exists, the outgoing message will
be saved to that mailbox, otherwise the message is saved to the
<a class="link" href="#record" title="3.217. record">$record</a> mailbox.
</p><p>
Also see the <a class="link" href="#force-name" title="3.71. force_name">$force_name</a> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="score"></a>3.232. score</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When this variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, scoring is turned off.  This can
be useful to selectively disable scoring for certain folders when the
<a class="link" href="#score-threshold-delete" title="3.233. score_threshold_delete">$score_threshold_delete</a> variable and related are used.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="score-threshold-delete"></a>3.233. score_threshold_delete</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: -1</p></div><p>
Messages which have been assigned a score equal to or lower than the value
of this variable are automatically marked for deletion by mutt.  Since
mutt scores are always greater than or equal to zero, the default setting
of this variable will never mark a message for deletion.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="score-threshold-flag"></a>3.234. score_threshold_flag</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 9999</p></div><p>
Messages which have been assigned a score greater than or equal to this
variable's value are automatically marked "flagged".
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="score-threshold-read"></a>3.235. score_threshold_read</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: -1</p></div><p>
Messages which have been assigned a score equal to or lower than the value
of this variable are automatically marked as read by mutt.  Since
mutt scores are always greater than or equal to zero, the default setting
of this variable will never mark a message read.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="search-context"></a>3.236. search_context</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 0</p></div><p>
For the pager, this variable specifies the number of lines shown
before search results. By default, search results will be top-aligned.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="send-charset"></a>3.237. send_charset</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">us-ascii:iso-8859-1:utf-8</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
A colon-delimited list of character sets for outgoing messages. Mutt will use the
first character set into which the text can be converted exactly.
If your <a class="link" href="#charset" title="3.25. charset">$charset</a> is not <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">iso-8859-1</span>”</span> and recipients may not
understand <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">UTF-8</span>”</span>, it is advisable to include in the list an
appropriate widely used standard character set (such as
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">iso-8859-2</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">koi8-r</span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">iso-2022-jp</span>”</span>) either instead of or after
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">iso-8859-1</span>”</span>.
</p><p>
In case the text cannot be converted into one of these exactly,
mutt uses <a class="link" href="#charset" title="3.25. charset">$charset</a> as a fallback.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="sendmail"></a>3.238. sendmail</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">/usr/sbin/sendmail -oem -oi</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
Specifies the program and arguments used to deliver mail sent by Mutt.
Mutt expects that the specified program interprets additional
arguments as recipient addresses.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="sendmail-wait"></a>3.239. sendmail_wait</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 0</p></div><p>
Specifies the number of seconds to wait for the <a class="link" href="#sendmail" title="3.238. sendmail">$sendmail</a> process
to finish before giving up and putting delivery in the background.
</p><p>
Mutt interprets the value of this variable as follows:

</p><div class="informaltable"><table border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>&gt;0 </td><td>number of seconds to wait for sendmail to finish before continuing
</td></tr><tr><td>0  </td><td>wait forever for sendmail to finish
</td></tr><tr><td>&lt;0 </td><td>always put sendmail in the background without waiting
</td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>
Note that if you specify a value other than 0, the output of the child
process will be put in a temporary file.  If there is some error, you
will be informed as to where to find the output.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="shell"></a>3.240. shell</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Command to use when spawning a subshell.  By default, the user's login
shell from <code class="literal">/etc/passwd</code> is used.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="sig-dashes"></a>3.241. sig_dashes</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, a line containing <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-- </span>”</span> (note the trailing space) will be inserted before your
<a class="link" href="#signature" title="3.243. signature">$signature</a>.  It is <span class="bold"><strong>strongly</strong></span> recommended that you not <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>
this variable unless your signature contains just your name.  The
reason for this is because many software packages use <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-- \n</span>”</span> to
detect your signature.  For example, Mutt has the ability to highlight
the signature in a different color in the built-in pager.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="sig-on-top"></a>3.242. sig_on_top</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, the signature will be included before any quoted or forwarded
text.  It is <span class="bold"><strong>strongly</strong></span> recommended that you do not set this variable
unless you really know what you are doing, and are prepared to take
some heat from netiquette guardians.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="signature"></a>3.243. signature</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">~/.signature</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
Specifies the filename of your signature, which is appended to all
outgoing messages.   If the filename ends with a pipe (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">|</span>”</span>), it is
assumed that filename is a shell command and input should be read from
its standard output.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="simple-search"></a>3.244. simple_search</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">~f %s | ~s %s</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
Specifies how Mutt should expand a simple search into a real search
pattern.  A simple search is one that does not contain any of the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">~</span>”</span> pattern
operators.  See <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#patterns" title="3. Patterns: Searching, Limiting and Tagging">patterns</a></span>”</span> for more information on search patterns.
</p><p>
For example, if you simply type <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">joe</span>”</span> at a search or limit prompt, Mutt
will automatically expand it to the value specified by this variable by
replacing <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">%s</span>”</span> with the supplied string.
For the default value, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">joe</span>”</span> would be expanded to: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">~f joe | ~s joe</span>”</span>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="sleep-time"></a>3.245. sleep_time</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 1</p></div><p>
Specifies time, in seconds, to pause while displaying certain informational
messages, while moving from folder to folder and after expunging
messages from the current folder.  The default is to pause one second, so
a value of zero for this option suppresses the pause.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smart-wrap"></a>3.246. smart_wrap</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
Controls the display of lines longer than the screen width in the
internal pager. If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, long lines are wrapped at a word boundary.  If
<span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, lines are simply wrapped at the screen edge. Also see the
<a class="link" href="#markers" title="3.128. markers">$markers</a> variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smileys"></a>3.247. smileys</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: regular expression<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">(&gt;From )|(:[-^]?[][)(&gt;&lt;}{|/DP])</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
The <span class="emphasis"><em>pager</em></span> uses this variable to catch some common false
positives of <a class="link" href="#quote-regexp" title="3.212. quote_regexp">$quote_regexp</a>, most notably smileys and not consider
a line quoted text if it also matches <a class="link" href="#smileys" title="3.247. smileys">$smileys</a>. This mostly
happens at the beginning of a line.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-ask-cert-label"></a>3.248. smime_ask_cert_label</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
This flag controls whether you want to be asked to enter a label
for a certificate about to be added to the database or not. It is
<span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span> by default.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-ca-location"></a>3.249. smime_ca_location</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This variable contains the name of either a directory, or a file which
contains trusted certificates for use with OpenSSL.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-certificates"></a>3.250. smime_certificates</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Since for S/MIME there is no pubring/secring as with PGP, mutt has to handle
storage and retrieval of keys by itself. This is very basic right
now, and keys and certificates are stored in two different
directories, both named as the hash-value retrieved from
OpenSSL. There is an index file which contains mailbox-address
keyid pairs, and which can be manually edited. This option points to
the location of the certificates.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-decrypt-command"></a>3.251. smime_decrypt_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This format string specifies a command which is used to decrypt
<code class="literal">application/x-pkcs7-mime</code> attachments.
</p><p>
The OpenSSL command formats have their own set of <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences
similar to PGP's:

</p><div class="informaltable"><table border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>%f </td><td>Expands to the name of a file containing a message.
</td></tr><tr><td>%s </td><td>Expands to the name of a file containing the signature part
           of a <code class="literal">multipart/signed</code> attachment when verifying it.
</td></tr><tr><td>%k </td><td>The key-pair specified with <a class="link" href="#smime-default-key" title="3.253. smime_default_key">$smime_default_key</a>
</td></tr><tr><td>%c </td><td>One or more certificate IDs.
</td></tr><tr><td>%a </td><td>The algorithm used for encryption.
</td></tr><tr><td>%C </td><td>CA location:  Depending on whether <a class="link" href="#smime-ca-location" title="3.249. smime_ca_location">$smime_ca_location</a>
           points to a directory or file, this expands to
           <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-CApath <a class="link" href="#smime-ca-location" title="3.249. smime_ca_location">$smime_ca_location</a></span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">-CAfile <a class="link" href="#smime-ca-location" title="3.249. smime_ca_location">$smime_ca_location</a></span>”</span>.
</td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>
For examples on how to configure these formats, see the <code class="literal">smime.rc</code> in
the <code class="literal">samples/</code> subdirectory which has been installed on your system
alongside the documentation.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-decrypt-use-default-key"></a>3.252. smime_decrypt_use_default_key</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span> (default) this tells mutt to use the default key for decryption. Otherwise,
if managing multiple certificate-key-pairs, mutt will try to use the mailbox-address
to determine the key to use. It will ask you to supply a key, if it can't find one.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-default-key"></a>3.253. smime_default_key</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This is the default key-pair to use for signing. This must be set to the
keyid (the hash-value that OpenSSL generates) to work properly
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-encrypt-command"></a>3.254. smime_encrypt_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to create encrypted S/MIME messages.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#smime-decrypt-command" title="3.251. smime_decrypt_command">$smime_decrypt_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-encrypt-with"></a>3.255. smime_encrypt_with</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">aes256</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This sets the algorithm that should be used for encryption.
Valid choices are <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">aes128</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">aes192</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">aes256</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">des</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">des3</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">rc2-40</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">rc2-64</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">rc2-128</span>”</span>.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-get-cert-command"></a>3.256. smime_get_cert_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to extract X509 certificates from a PKCS7 structure.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#smime-decrypt-command" title="3.251. smime_decrypt_command">$smime_decrypt_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-get-cert-email-command"></a>3.257. smime_get_cert_email_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to extract the mail address(es) used for storing
X509 certificates, and for verification purposes (to check whether the
certificate was issued for the sender's mailbox).
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#smime-decrypt-command" title="3.251. smime_decrypt_command">$smime_decrypt_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-get-signer-cert-command"></a>3.258. smime_get_signer_cert_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to extract only the signers X509 certificate from a S/MIME
signature, so that the certificate's owner may get compared to the
email's <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">From:</span>”</span> field.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#smime-decrypt-command" title="3.251. smime_decrypt_command">$smime_decrypt_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-import-cert-command"></a>3.259. smime_import_cert_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to import a certificate via smime_keys.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#smime-decrypt-command" title="3.251. smime_decrypt_command">$smime_decrypt_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-is-default"></a>3.260. smime_is_default</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
The default behavior of mutt is to use PGP on all auto-sign/encryption
operations. To override and to use OpenSSL instead this must be <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>.
However, this has no effect while replying, since mutt will automatically
select the same application that was used to sign/encrypt the original
message.  (Note that this variable can be overridden by unsetting <a class="link" href="#crypt-autosmime" title="3.39. crypt_autosmime">$crypt_autosmime</a>.)
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-keys"></a>3.261. smime_keys</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Since for S/MIME there is no pubring/secring as with PGP, mutt has to handle
storage and retrieval of keys/certs by itself. This is very basic right now,
and stores keys and certificates in two different directories, both
named as the hash-value retrieved from OpenSSL. There is an index file
which contains mailbox-address keyid pair, and which can be manually
edited. This option points to the location of the private keys.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-pk7out-command"></a>3.262. smime_pk7out_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to extract PKCS7 structures of S/MIME signatures,
in order to extract the public X509 certificate(s).
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#smime-decrypt-command" title="3.251. smime_decrypt_command">$smime_decrypt_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-sign-command"></a>3.263. smime_sign_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to created S/MIME signatures of type
<code class="literal">multipart/signed</code>, which can be read by all mail clients.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#smime-decrypt-command" title="3.251. smime_decrypt_command">$smime_decrypt_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-sign-opaque-command"></a>3.264. smime_sign_opaque_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to created S/MIME signatures of type
<code class="literal">application/x-pkcs7-signature</code>, which can only be handled by mail
clients supporting the S/MIME extension.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#smime-decrypt-command" title="3.251. smime_decrypt_command">$smime_decrypt_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-timeout"></a>3.265. smime_timeout</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 300</p></div><p>
The number of seconds after which a cached passphrase will expire if
not used.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-verify-command"></a>3.266. smime_verify_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type <code class="literal">multipart/signed</code>.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#smime-decrypt-command" title="3.251. smime_decrypt_command">$smime_decrypt_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-verify-opaque-command"></a>3.267. smime_verify_opaque_command</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type
<code class="literal">application/x-pkcs7-mime</code>.
</p><p>
This is a format string, see the <a class="link" href="#smime-decrypt-command" title="3.251. smime_decrypt_command">$smime_decrypt_command</a> command for
possible <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences.
(S/MIME only)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smtp-authenticators"></a>3.268. smtp_authenticators</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt may
attempt to use to log in to an SMTP server, in the order mutt should
try them.  Authentication methods are any SASL mechanism, e.g.
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">digest-md5</span>”</span>, <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">gssapi</span>”</span> or <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">cram-md5</span>”</span>.
This option is case-insensitive. If it is <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">unset</span>”</span>
(the default) mutt will try all available methods, in order from
most-secure to least-secure.
</p><p>
Example:

</p><pre class="screen">
set smtp_authenticators="digest-md5:cram-md5"
</pre></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smtp-pass"></a>3.269. smtp_pass</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Specifies the password for your SMTP account.  If <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, Mutt will
prompt you for your password when you first send mail via SMTP.
See <a class="link" href="#smtp-url" title="3.270. smtp_url">$smtp_url</a> to configure mutt to send mail via SMTP.
</p><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Warning</strong></span>: you should only use this option when you are on a
fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your muttrc even
if you are the only one who can read the file.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smtp-url"></a>3.270. smtp_url</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Defines the SMTP smarthost where sent messages should relayed for
delivery. This should take the form of an SMTP URL, e.g.:

</p><pre class="screen">
smtp[s]://[user[:pass]@]host[:port]
</pre><p>
where <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">[...]</span>”</span> denotes an optional part.
Setting this variable overrides the value of the <a class="link" href="#sendmail" title="3.238. sendmail">$sendmail</a>
variable.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="sort"></a>3.271. sort</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: sort order<br />
Default: date</p></div><p>
Specifies how to sort messages in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">index</span>”</span> menu.  Valid values
are:

</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>date or date-sent
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>date-received
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>from
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>mailbox-order (unsorted)
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>score
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>size
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>spam
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>subject
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>threads
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>to
</p></li></ul></div><p>
You may optionally use the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">reverse-</span>”</span> prefix to specify reverse sorting
order (example: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">set sort=reverse-date-sent</code></span>”</span>).
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="sort-alias"></a>3.272. sort_alias</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: sort order<br />
Default: alias</p></div><p>
Specifies how the entries in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">alias</span>”</span> menu are sorted.  The
following are legal values:

</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>address (sort alphabetically by email address)
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>alias (sort alphabetically by alias name)
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>unsorted (leave in order specified in .muttrc)
</p></li></ul></div></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="sort-aux"></a>3.273. sort_aux</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: sort order<br />
Default: date</p></div><p>
When sorting by threads, this variable controls how threads are sorted
in relation to other threads, and how the branches of the thread trees
are sorted.  This can be set to any value that <a class="link" href="#sort" title="3.271. sort">$sort</a> can, except
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">threads</span>”</span> (in that case, mutt will just use <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">date-sent</span>”</span>).  You can also
specify the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">last-</span>”</span> prefix in addition to the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">reverse-</span>”</span> prefix, but <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">last-</span>”</span>
must come after <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">reverse-</span>”</span>.  The <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">last-</span>”</span> prefix causes messages to be
sorted against its siblings by which has the last descendant, using
the rest of <a class="link" href="#sort-aux" title="3.273. sort_aux">$sort_aux</a> as an ordering.  For instance,

</p><pre class="screen">
set sort_aux=last-date-received
</pre><p>
would mean that if a new message is received in a
thread, that thread becomes the last one displayed (or the first, if
you have <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">set sort=reverse-threads</code></span>”</span>.)
</p><p>
Note: For reversed <a class="link" href="#sort" title="3.271. sort">$sort</a>
order <a class="link" href="#sort-aux" title="3.273. sort_aux">$sort_aux</a> is reversed again (which is not the right thing to do,
but kept to not break any existing configuration setting).
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="sort-browser"></a>3.274. sort_browser</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: sort order<br />
Default: alpha</p></div><p>
Specifies how to sort entries in the file browser.  By default, the
entries are sorted alphabetically.  Valid values:

</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>alpha (alphabetically)
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>date
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>size
</p></li><li class="listitem"><p>unsorted
</p></li></ul></div><p>
You may optionally use the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">reverse-</span>”</span> prefix to specify reverse sorting
order (example: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">set sort_browser=reverse-date</code></span>”</span>).
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="sort-re"></a>3.275. sort_re</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
This variable is only useful when sorting by threads with
<a class="link" href="#strict-threads" title="3.295. strict_threads">$strict_threads</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>.  In that case, it changes the heuristic
mutt uses to thread messages by subject.  With <a class="link" href="#sort-re" title="3.275. sort_re">$sort_re</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will
only attach a message as the child of another message by subject if
the subject of the child message starts with a substring matching the
setting of <a class="link" href="#reply-regexp" title="3.220. reply_regexp">$reply_regexp</a>.  With <a class="link" href="#sort-re" title="3.275. sort_re">$sort_re</a> <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, mutt will attach
the message whether or not this is the case, as long as the
non-<a class="link" href="#reply-regexp" title="3.220. reply_regexp">$reply_regexp</a> parts of both messages are identical.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="spam-separator"></a>3.276. spam_separator</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">,</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
This variable controls what happens when multiple spam headers
are matched: if <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, each successive header will overwrite any
previous matches value for the spam label. If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, each successive
match will append to the previous, using this variable's value as a
separator.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="spoolfile"></a>3.277. spoolfile</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
If your spool mailbox is in a non-default place where Mutt cannot find
it, you can specify its location with this variable.  Mutt will
initially set this variable to the value of the environment
variable <code class="literal">$MAIL</code> or <code class="literal">$MAILDIR</code> if either is defined.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ssl-ca-certificates-file"></a>3.278. ssl_ca_certificates_file</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This variable specifies a file containing trusted CA certificates.
Any server certificate that is signed with one of these CA
certificates is also automatically accepted.
</p><p>
Example:

</p><pre class="screen">
set ssl_ca_certificates_file=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
</pre></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ssl-client-cert"></a>3.279. ssl_client_cert</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
The file containing a client certificate and its associated private
key.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ssl-force-tls"></a>3.280. ssl_force_tls</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If this variable is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will require that all connections
to remote servers be encrypted. Furthermore it will attempt to
negotiate TLS even if the server does not advertise the capability,
since it would otherwise have to abort the connection anyway. This
option supersedes <a class="link" href="#ssl-starttls" title="3.282. ssl_starttls">$ssl_starttls</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ssl-min-dh-prime-bits"></a>3.281. ssl_min_dh_prime_bits</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 0</p></div><p>
This variable specifies the minimum acceptable prime size (in bits)
for use in any Diffie-Hellman key exchange. A value of 0 will use
the default from the GNUTLS library.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ssl-starttls"></a>3.282. ssl_starttls</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: quadoption<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span> (the default), mutt will attempt to use <code class="literal">STARTTLS</code> on servers
advertising the capability. When <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, mutt will not attempt to
use <code class="literal">STARTTLS</code> regardless of the server's capabilities.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ssl-use-sslv2"></a>3.283. ssl_use_sslv2</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
This variable specifies whether to attempt to use SSLv2 in the
SSL authentication process. Note that SSLv2 and SSLv3 are now
considered fundamentally insecure and are no longer recommended.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ssl-use-sslv3"></a>3.284. ssl_use_sslv3</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
This variable specifies whether to attempt to use SSLv3 in the
SSL authentication process. Note that SSLv2 and SSLv3 are now
considered fundamentally insecure and are no longer recommended.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ssl-use-tlsv1"></a>3.285. ssl_use_tlsv1</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
This variable specifies whether to attempt to use TLSv1.0 in the
SSL authentication process.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ssl-use-tlsv1-1"></a>3.286. ssl_use_tlsv1_1</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
This variable specifies whether to attempt to use TLSv1.1 in the
SSL authentication process.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ssl-use-tlsv1-2"></a>3.287. ssl_use_tlsv1_2</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
This variable specifies whether to attempt to use TLSv1.2 in the
SSL authentication process.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ssl-usesystemcerts"></a>3.288. ssl_usesystemcerts</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If set to <span class="emphasis"><em>yes</em></span>, mutt will use CA certificates in the
system-wide certificate store when checking if a server certificate
is signed by a trusted CA.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ssl-verify-dates"></a>3.289. ssl_verify_dates</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span> (the default), mutt will not automatically accept a server
certificate that is either not yet valid or already expired. You should
only unset this for particular known hosts, using the
<code class="literal"><a class="link" href="#account-hook" title="6. Managing Multiple Accounts">&lt;account-hook&gt;</a></code> function.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ssl-verify-host"></a>3.290. ssl_verify_host</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span> (the default), mutt will not automatically accept a server
certificate whose host name does not match the host used in your folder
URL. You should only unset this for particular known hosts, using
the <code class="literal"><a class="link" href="#account-hook" title="6. Managing Multiple Accounts">&lt;account-hook&gt;</a></code> function.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ssl-ciphers"></a>3.291. ssl_ciphers</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Contains a colon-seperated list of ciphers to use when using SSL.
For OpenSSL, see ciphers(1) for the syntax of the string.
</p><p>
For GnuTLS, this option will be used in place of "NORMAL" at the
start of the priority string.  See gnutls_priority_init(3) for the
syntax and more details. (Note: GnuTLS version 2.1.7 or higher is
required.)
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="status-chars"></a>3.292. status_chars</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">-*%A</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
Controls the characters used by the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">%r</span>”</span> indicator in
<a class="link" href="#status-format" title="3.293. status_format">$status_format</a>. The first character is used when the mailbox is
unchanged. The second is used when the mailbox has been changed, and
it needs to be resynchronized. The third is used if the mailbox is in
read-only mode, or if the mailbox will not be written when exiting
that mailbox (You can toggle whether to write changes to a mailbox
with the <code class="literal">&lt;toggle-write&gt;</code> operation, bound by default to <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">%</span>”</span>). The fourth
is used to indicate that the current folder has been opened in attach-
message mode (Certain operations like composing a new mail, replying,
forwarding, etc. are not permitted in this mode).
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="status-format"></a>3.293. status_format</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">-%r-Mutt: %f [Msgs:%?M?%M/?%m%?n? New:%n?%?o? Old:%o?%?d? Del:%d?%?F? Flag:%F?%?t? Tag:%t?%?p? Post:%p?%?b? Inc:%b?%?l? %l?]---(%s/%S)-%&gt;-(%P)---</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
Controls the format of the status line displayed in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">index</span>”</span>
menu.  This string is similar to <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a>, but has its own
set of <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequences:

</p><div class="informaltable"><table border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>%b  </td><td>number of mailboxes with new mail *
</td></tr><tr><td>%d  </td><td>number of deleted messages *
</td></tr><tr><td>%f  </td><td>the full pathname of the current mailbox
</td></tr><tr><td>%F  </td><td>number of flagged messages *
</td></tr><tr><td>%h  </td><td>local hostname
</td></tr><tr><td>%l  </td><td>size (in bytes) of the current mailbox *
</td></tr><tr><td>%L  </td><td>size (in bytes) of the messages shown
(i.e., which match the current limit) *
</td></tr><tr><td>%m  </td><td>the number of messages in the mailbox *
</td></tr><tr><td>%M  </td><td>the number of messages shown (i.e., which match the current limit) *
</td></tr><tr><td>%n  </td><td>number of new messages in the mailbox *
</td></tr><tr><td>%o  </td><td>number of old unread messages *
</td></tr><tr><td>%p  </td><td>number of postponed messages *
</td></tr><tr><td>%P  </td><td>percentage of the way through the index
</td></tr><tr><td>%r  </td><td>modified/read-only/won't-write/attach-message indicator,
according to <a class="link" href="#status-chars" title="3.292. status_chars">$status_chars</a>
</td></tr><tr><td>%s  </td><td>current sorting mode (<a class="link" href="#sort" title="3.271. sort">$sort</a>)
</td></tr><tr><td>%S  </td><td>current aux sorting method (<a class="link" href="#sort-aux" title="3.273. sort_aux">$sort_aux</a>)
</td></tr><tr><td>%t  </td><td>number of tagged messages *
</td></tr><tr><td>%u  </td><td>number of unread messages *
</td></tr><tr><td>%v  </td><td>Mutt version string
</td></tr><tr><td>%V  </td><td>currently active limit pattern, if any *
</td></tr><tr><td>%&gt;X </td><td>right justify the rest of the string and pad with <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X</span>”</span>
</td></tr><tr><td>%|X </td><td>pad to the end of the line with <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X</span>”</span>
</td></tr><tr><td>%*X </td><td>soft-fill with character <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">X</span>”</span> as pad
</td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>
For an explanation of <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">soft-fill</span>”</span>, see the <a class="link" href="#index-format" title="3.116. index_format">$index_format</a> documentation.
</p><p>
* = can be optionally printed if nonzero
</p><p>
Some of the above sequences can be used to optionally print a string
if their value is nonzero.  For example, you may only want to see the
number of flagged messages if such messages exist, since zero is not
particularly meaningful.  To optionally print a string based upon one
of the above sequences, the following construct is used:
</p><p>
<code class="literal">%?&lt;sequence_char&gt;?&lt;optional_string&gt;?</code>
</p><p>
where <span class="emphasis"><em>sequence_char</em></span> is a character from the table above, and
<span class="emphasis"><em>optional_string</em></span> is the string you would like printed if
<span class="emphasis"><em>sequence_char</em></span> is nonzero.  <span class="emphasis"><em>optional_string</em></span> <span class="bold"><strong>may</strong></span> contain
other sequences as well as normal text, but you may <span class="bold"><strong>not</strong></span> nest
optional strings.
</p><p>
Here is an example illustrating how to optionally print the number of
new messages in a mailbox:
</p><p>
<code class="literal">%?n?%n new messages.?</code>
</p><p>
You can also switch between two strings using the following construct:
</p><p>
<code class="literal">%?&lt;sequence_char&gt;?&lt;if_string&gt;&amp;&lt;else_string&gt;?</code>
</p><p>
If the value of <span class="emphasis"><em>sequence_char</em></span> is non-zero, <span class="emphasis"><em>if_string</em></span> will
be expanded, otherwise <span class="emphasis"><em>else_string</em></span> will be expanded.
</p><p>
You can force the result of any <code class="literal">printf(3)</code>-like sequence to be lowercase
by prefixing the sequence character with an underscore (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">_</span>”</span>) sign.
For example, if you want to display the local hostname in lowercase,
you would use: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">%_h</code></span>”</span>.
</p><p>
If you prefix the sequence character with a colon (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">:</span>”</span>) character, mutt
will replace any dots in the expansion by underscores. This might be helpful
with IMAP folders that don't like dots in folder names.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="status-on-top"></a>3.294. status_on_top</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
Setting this variable causes the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">status bar</span>”</span> to be displayed on
the first line of the screen rather than near the bottom. If <a class="link" href="#help" title="3.84. help">$help</a>
is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, too it'll be placed at the bottom.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="strict-threads"></a>3.295. strict_threads</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, threading will only make use of the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">In-Reply-To</span>”</span> and
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">References:</span>”</span> fields when you <a class="link" href="#sort" title="3.271. sort">$sort</a> by message threads.  By
default, messages with the same subject are grouped together in
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">pseudo threads.</span>”</span>. This may not always be desirable, such as in a
personal mailbox where you might have several unrelated messages with
the subjects like <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">hi</span>”</span> which will get grouped together. See also
<a class="link" href="#sort-re" title="3.275. sort_re">$sort_re</a> for a less drastic way of controlling this
behavior.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="suspend"></a>3.296. suspend</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, mutt won't stop when the user presses the terminal's
<span class="emphasis"><em>susp</em></span> key, usually <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">^Z</span>”</span>. This is useful if you run mutt
inside an xterm using a command like <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">xterm -e mutt</code></span>”</span>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="text-flowed"></a>3.297. text_flowed</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will generate <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">format=flowed</span>”</span> bodies with a content type
of <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">text/plain; format=flowed</code></span>”</span>.
This format is easier to handle for some mailing software, and generally
just looks like ordinary text.  To actually make use of this format's
features, you'll need support in your editor.
</p><p>
Note that <a class="link" href="#indent-string" title="3.115. indent_string">$indent_string</a> is ignored when this option is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="thorough-search"></a>3.298. thorough_search</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
Affects the <code class="literal">~b</code> and <code class="literal">~h</code> search operations described in
section <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#patterns" title="3. Patterns: Searching, Limiting and Tagging">patterns</a></span>”</span>.  If <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, the headers and body/attachments of
messages to be searched are decoded before searching. If <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>,
messages are searched as they appear in the folder.
</p><p>
Users searching attachments or for non-ASCII characters should <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>
this value because decoding also includes MIME parsing/decoding and possible
character set conversions. Otherwise mutt will attempt to match against the
raw message received (for example quoted-printable encoded or with encoded
headers) which may lead to incorrect search results.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="thread-received"></a>3.299. thread_received</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt uses the date received rather than the date sent
to thread messages by subject.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="tilde"></a>3.300. tilde</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, the internal-pager will pad blank lines to the bottom of the
screen with a tilde (<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">~</span>”</span>).
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="time-inc"></a>3.301. time_inc</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 0</p></div><p>
Along with <a class="link" href="#read-inc" title="3.213. read_inc">$read_inc</a>, <a class="link" href="#write-inc" title="3.325. write_inc">$write_inc</a>, and <a class="link" href="#net-inc" title="3.151. net_inc">$net_inc</a>, this
variable controls the frequency with which progress updates are
displayed. It suppresses updates less than <a class="link" href="#time-inc" title="3.301. time_inc">$time_inc</a> milliseconds
apart. This can improve throughput on systems with slow terminals,
or when running mutt on a remote system.
</p><p>
Also see the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#tuning" title="Chapter 8. Performance Tuning">tuning</a></span>”</span> section of the manual for performance considerations.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="timeout"></a>3.302. timeout</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 600</p></div><p>
When Mutt is waiting for user input either idling in menus or
in an interactive prompt, Mutt would block until input is
present. Depending on the context, this would prevent certain
operations from working, like checking for new mail or keeping
an IMAP connection alive.
</p><p>
This variable controls how many seconds Mutt will at most wait
until it aborts waiting for input, performs these operations and
continues to wait for input.
</p><p>
A value of zero or less will cause Mutt to never time out.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="tmpdir"></a>3.303. tmpdir</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
This variable allows you to specify where Mutt will place its
temporary files needed for displaying and composing messages.  If
this variable is not set, the environment variable <code class="literal">$TMPDIR</code> is
used.  If <code class="literal">$TMPDIR</code> is not set then <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">/tmp</code></span>”</span> is used.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="to-chars"></a>3.304. to_chars</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal"> +TCFL</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
Controls the character used to indicate mail addressed to you.  The
first character is the one used when the mail is <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> addressed to your
address.  The second is used when you are the only
recipient of the message.  The third is when your address
appears in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">To:</span>”</span> header field, but you are not the only recipient of
the message.  The fourth character is used when your
address is specified in the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Cc:</span>”</span> header field, but you are not the only
recipient.  The fifth character is used to indicate mail that was sent
by <span class="emphasis"><em>you</em></span>.  The sixth character is used to indicate when a mail
was sent to a mailing-list you subscribe to.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ts-icon-format"></a>3.305. ts_icon_format</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">M%?n?AIL&amp;ail?</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
Controls the format of the icon title, as long as <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#ts-enabled" title="3.306. ts_enabled">$ts_enabled</a></span>”</span> is set.
This string is identical in formatting to the one used by
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#status-format" title="3.293. status_format">$status_format</a></span>”</span>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ts-enabled"></a>3.306. ts_enabled</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
Controls whether mutt tries to set the terminal status line and icon name.
Most terminal emulators emulate the status line in the window title.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="ts-status-format"></a>3.307. ts_status_format</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">Mutt with %?m?%m messages&amp;no messages?%?n? [%n NEW]?</code></span>”</span></p></div><p>
Controls the format of the terminal status line (or window title),
provided that <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#ts-enabled" title="3.306. ts_enabled">$ts_enabled</a></span>”</span> has been set. This string is identical in
formatting to the one used by <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#status-format" title="3.293. status_format">$status_format</a></span>”</span>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="tunnel"></a>3.308. tunnel</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: string<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Setting this variable will cause mutt to open a pipe to a command
instead of a raw socket. You may be able to use this to set up
preauthenticated connections to your IMAP/POP3/SMTP server. Example:

</p><pre class="screen">
set tunnel="ssh -q mailhost.net /usr/local/libexec/imapd"
</pre><p>
Note: For this example to work you must be able to log in to the remote
machine without having to enter a password.
</p><p>
When set, Mutt uses the tunnel for all remote connections.
Please see <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#account-hook" title="6. Managing Multiple Accounts">account-hook</a></span>”</span> in the manual for how to use different
tunnel commands per connection.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="uncollapse-jump"></a>3.309. uncollapse_jump</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will jump to the next unread message, if any,
when the current thread is <span class="emphasis"><em>un</em></span>collapsed.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="use-8bitmime"></a>3.310. use_8bitmime</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Warning:</strong></span> do not set this variable unless you are using a version
of sendmail which supports the <code class="literal">-B8BITMIME</code> flag (such as sendmail
8.8.x) or you may not be able to send mail.
</p><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will invoke <a class="link" href="#sendmail" title="3.238. sendmail">$sendmail</a> with the <code class="literal">-B8BITMIME</code>
flag when sending 8-bit messages to enable ESMTP negotiation.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="use-domain"></a>3.311. use_domain</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will qualify all local addresses (ones without the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">@host</span>”</span> portion) with the value of <a class="link" href="#hostname" title="3.95. hostname">$hostname</a>.  If <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, no
addresses will be qualified.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="use-envelope-from"></a>3.312. use_envelope_from</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: no</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will set the <span class="emphasis"><em>envelope</em></span> sender of the message.
If <a class="link" href="#envelope-from-address" title="3.63. envelope_from_address">$envelope_from_address</a> is <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, it will be used as the sender
address. If <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, mutt will attempt to derive the sender from the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">From:</span>”</span> header.
</p><p>
Note that this information is passed to sendmail command using the
<code class="literal">-f</code> command line switch. Therefore setting this option is not useful
if the <a class="link" href="#sendmail" title="3.238. sendmail">$sendmail</a> variable already contains <code class="literal">-f</code> or if the
executable pointed to by <a class="link" href="#sendmail" title="3.238. sendmail">$sendmail</a> doesn't support the <code class="literal">-f</code> switch.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="use-from"></a>3.313. use_from</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will generate the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">From:</span>”</span> header field when
sending messages.  If <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, no <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">From:</span>”</span> header field will be
generated unless the user explicitly sets one using the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#my-hdr" title="15. User-Defined Headers">my_hdr</a></span>”</span>
command.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="use-idn"></a>3.314. use_idn</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will show you international domain names decoded.
Note: You can use IDNs for addresses even if this is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>.
This variable only affects decoding.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="use-ipv6"></a>3.315. use_ipv6</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will look for IPv6 addresses of hosts it tries to
contact.  If this option is <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, Mutt will restrict itself to IPv4 addresses.
Normally, the default should work.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="user-agent"></a>3.316. user_agent</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will add a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">User-Agent:</span>”</span> header to outgoing
messages, indicating which version of mutt was used for composing
them.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="visual"></a>3.317. visual</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: path<br />
Default: (empty)</p></div><p>
Specifies the visual editor to invoke when the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">~v</code></span>”</span> command is
given in the built-in editor.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="wait-key"></a>3.318. wait_key</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
Controls whether Mutt will ask you to press a key after an external command
has been invoked by these functions: <code class="literal">&lt;shell-escape&gt;</code>,
<code class="literal">&lt;pipe-message&gt;</code>, <code class="literal">&lt;pipe-entry&gt;</code>, <code class="literal">&lt;print-message&gt;</code>,
and <code class="literal">&lt;print-entry&gt;</code> commands.
</p><p>
It is also used when viewing attachments with <span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#auto-view" title="4. MIME Autoview">auto_view</a></span>”</span>, provided
that the corresponding mailcap entry has a <span class="emphasis"><em>needsterminal</em></span> flag,
and the external program is interactive.
</p><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, Mutt will always ask for a key. When <span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, Mutt will wait
for a key only if the external command returned a non-zero status.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="weed"></a>3.319. weed</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, mutt will weed headers when displaying, forwarding,
printing, or replying to messages.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="wrap"></a>3.320. wrap</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 0</p></div><p>
When set to a positive value, mutt will wrap text at <a class="link" href="#wrap" title="3.320. wrap">$wrap</a> characters.
When set to a negative value, mutt will wrap text so that there are <a class="link" href="#wrap" title="3.320. wrap">$wrap</a>
characters of empty space on the right side of the terminal. Setting it
to zero makes mutt wrap at the terminal width.
</p><p>
Also see <a class="link" href="#reflow-wrap" title="3.219. reflow_wrap">$reflow_wrap</a>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="wrap-headers"></a>3.321. wrap_headers</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 78</p></div><p>
This option specifies the number of characters to use for wrapping
an outgoing message's headers. Allowed values are between 78 and 998
inclusive.
</p><p>
<span class="bold"><strong>Note:</strong></span> This option usually shouldn't be changed. RFC5233
recommends a line length of 78 (the default), so <span class="bold"><strong>please only change
this setting when you know what you're doing</strong></span>.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="wrap-search"></a>3.322. wrap_search</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
Controls whether searches wrap around the end.
</p><p>
When <span class="emphasis"><em>set</em></span>, searches will wrap around the first (or last) item. When
<span class="emphasis"><em>unset</em></span>, incremental searches will not wrap.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="wrapmargin"></a>3.323. wrapmargin</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 0</p></div><p>
(DEPRECATED) Equivalent to setting <a class="link" href="#wrap" title="3.320. wrap">$wrap</a> with a negative value.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="write-bcc"></a>3.324. write_bcc</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: boolean<br />
Default: yes</p></div><p>
Controls whether mutt writes out the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Bcc:</span>”</span> header when preparing
messages to be sent.  Exim users may wish to unset this. If mutt
is set to deliver directly via SMTP (see <a class="link" href="#smtp-url" title="3.270. smtp_url">$smtp_url</a>), this
option does nothing: mutt will never write out the <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Bcc:</span>”</span> header
in this case.
</p></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="write-inc"></a>3.325. write_inc</h3></div></div></div><div class="literallayout"><p>Type: number<br />
Default: 10</p></div><p>
When writing a mailbox, a message will be printed every
<a class="link" href="#write-inc" title="3.325. write_inc">$write_inc</a> messages to indicate progress.  If set to 0, only a
single message will be displayed before writing a mailbox.
</p><p>
Also see the <a class="link" href="#read-inc" title="3.213. read_inc">$read_inc</a>, <a class="link" href="#net-inc" title="3.151. net_inc">$net_inc</a> and <a class="link" href="#time-inc" title="3.301. time_inc">$time_inc</a> variables and the
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><a class="link" href="#tuning" title="Chapter 8. Performance Tuning">tuning</a></span>”</span> section of the manual for performance considerations.
</p></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="functions"></a>4. Functions</h2></div></div></div><p>
The following is the list of available functions listed by the mapping
in which they are available.  The default key setting is given, and an
explanation of what the function does.  The key bindings of these
functions can be changed with the <a class="link" href="#bind" title="5. Changing the Default Key Bindings">bind</a>
command.
</p><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="generic-map"></a>4.1. Generic Menu</h3></div></div></div><p>
The <span class="emphasis"><em>generic</em></span> menu is not a real menu, but specifies common functions
(such as movement) available in all menus except for <span class="emphasis"><em>pager</em></span> and
<span class="emphasis"><em>editor</em></span>.  Changing settings for this menu will affect the default
bindings for all menus (except as noted).
</p><div class="table"><a id="tab-generic-bindings"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.2. Default Generic Menu Bindings</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Default Generic Menu Bindings" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Function</th><th>Default key</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;top-page&gt;</code></td><td>H</td><td>move to the top of the page</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-entry&gt;</code></td><td>j</td><td>move to the next entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-entry&gt;</code></td><td>k</td><td>move to the previous entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;bottom-page&gt;</code></td><td>L</td><td>move to the bottom of the page</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;refresh&gt;</code></td><td>^L</td><td>clear and redraw the screen</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;middle-page&gt;</code></td><td>M</td><td>move to the middle of the page</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;search-next&gt;</code></td><td>n</td><td>search for next match</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;exit&gt;</code></td><td>q</td><td>exit this menu</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;tag-entry&gt;</code></td><td>t</td><td>tag the current entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-page&gt;</code></td><td>z</td><td>move to the next page</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-page&gt;</code></td><td>Z</td><td>move to the previous page</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;last-entry&gt;</code></td><td>*</td><td>move to the last entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;first-entry&gt;</code></td><td>=</td><td>move to the first entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;enter-command&gt;</code></td><td>:</td><td>enter a muttrc command</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-line&gt;</code></td><td>&gt;</td><td>scroll down one line</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-line&gt;</code></td><td>&lt;</td><td>scroll up one line</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;half-up&gt;</code></td><td>[</td><td>scroll up 1/2 page</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;half-down&gt;</code></td><td>]</td><td>scroll down 1/2 page</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;help&gt;</code></td><td>?</td><td>this screen</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;tag-prefix&gt;</code></td><td>;</td><td>apply next function to tagged messages</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;tag-prefix-cond&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>apply next function ONLY to tagged messages</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;end-cond&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>end of conditional execution (noop)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;shell-escape&gt;</code></td><td>!</td><td>invoke a command in a subshell</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;select-entry&gt;</code></td><td>&lt;Return&gt;</td><td>select the current entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;search&gt;</code></td><td>/</td><td>search for a regular expression</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;search-reverse&gt;</code></td><td>Esc /</td><td>search backwards for a regular expression</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;search-opposite&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>search for next match in opposite direction</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;jump&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>jump to an index number</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;current-top&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>move entry to top of screen</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;current-middle&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>move entry to middle of screen</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;current-bottom&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>move entry to bottom of screen</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;what-key&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>display the keycode for a key press</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="index-map"></a>4.2. Index Menu</h3></div></div></div><div class="table"><a id="tab-index-bindings"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.3. Default Index Menu Bindings</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Default Index Menu Bindings" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Function</th><th>Default key</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;create-alias&gt;</code></td><td>a</td><td>create an alias from a message sender</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;bounce-message&gt;</code></td><td>b</td><td>remail a message to another user</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;break-thread&gt;</code></td><td>#</td><td>break the thread in two</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;change-folder&gt;</code></td><td>c</td><td>open a different folder</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;change-folder-readonly&gt;</code></td><td>Esc c</td><td>open a different folder in read only mode</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-unread-mailbox&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>open next mailbox with new mail</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;collapse-thread&gt;</code></td><td>Esc v</td><td>collapse/uncollapse current thread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;collapse-all&gt;</code></td><td>Esc V</td><td>collapse/uncollapse all threads</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;copy-message&gt;</code></td><td>C</td><td>copy a message to a file/mailbox</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;decode-copy&gt;</code></td><td>Esc C</td><td>make decoded (text/plain) copy</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;decode-save&gt;</code></td><td>Esc s</td><td>make decoded copy (text/plain) and delete</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;delete-message&gt;</code></td><td>d</td><td>delete the current entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;delete-pattern&gt;</code></td><td>D</td><td>delete messages matching a pattern</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;delete-thread&gt;</code></td><td>^D</td><td>delete all messages in thread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;delete-subthread&gt;</code></td><td>Esc d</td><td>delete all messages in subthread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit&gt;</code></td><td>e</td><td>edit the raw message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-type&gt;</code></td><td>^E</td><td>edit attachment content type</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;forward-message&gt;</code></td><td>f</td><td>forward a message with comments</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;flag-message&gt;</code></td><td>F</td><td>toggle a message's 'important' flag</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;group-reply&gt;</code></td><td>g</td><td>reply to all recipients</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;fetch-mail&gt;</code></td><td>G</td><td>retrieve mail from POP server</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;imap-fetch-mail&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>force retrieval of mail from IMAP server</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;imap-logout-all&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>logout from all IMAP servers</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;display-toggle-weed&gt;</code></td><td>h</td><td>display message and toggle header weeding</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-undeleted&gt;</code></td><td>j</td><td>move to the next undeleted message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-undeleted&gt;</code></td><td>k</td><td>move to the previous undeleted message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;limit&gt;</code></td><td>l</td><td>show only messages matching a pattern</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;link-threads&gt;</code></td><td>&amp;</td><td>link tagged message to the current one</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;list-reply&gt;</code></td><td>L</td><td>reply to specified mailing list</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;mail&gt;</code></td><td>m</td><td>compose a new mail message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;toggle-new&gt;</code></td><td>N</td><td>toggle a message's 'new' flag</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;toggle-write&gt;</code></td><td>%</td><td>toggle whether the mailbox will be rewritten</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-thread&gt;</code></td><td>^N</td><td>jump to the next thread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-subthread&gt;</code></td><td>Esc n</td><td>jump to the next subthread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;query&gt;</code></td><td>Q</td><td>query external program for addresses</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;quit&gt;</code></td><td>q</td><td>save changes to mailbox and quit</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;reply&gt;</code></td><td>r</td><td>reply to a message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;show-limit&gt;</code></td><td>Esc l</td><td>show currently active limit pattern</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;sort-mailbox&gt;</code></td><td>o</td><td>sort messages</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;sort-reverse&gt;</code></td><td>O</td><td>sort messages in reverse order</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;print-message&gt;</code></td><td>p</td><td>print the current entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-thread&gt;</code></td><td>^P</td><td>jump to previous thread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-subthread&gt;</code></td><td>Esc p</td><td>jump to previous subthread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;recall-message&gt;</code></td><td>R</td><td>recall a postponed message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;read-thread&gt;</code></td><td>^R</td><td>mark the current thread as read</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;read-subthread&gt;</code></td><td>Esc r</td><td>mark the current subthread as read</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;resend-message&gt;</code></td><td>Esc e</td><td>use the current message as a template for a new one</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;save-message&gt;</code></td><td>s</td><td>save message/attachment to a mailbox/file</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;tag-pattern&gt;</code></td><td>T</td><td>tag messages matching a pattern</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;tag-subthread&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>tag the current subthread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;tag-thread&gt;</code></td><td>Esc t</td><td>tag the current thread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;untag-pattern&gt;</code></td><td>^T</td><td>untag messages matching a pattern</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;undelete-message&gt;</code></td><td>u</td><td>undelete the current entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;undelete-pattern&gt;</code></td><td>U</td><td>undelete messages matching a pattern</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;undelete-subthread&gt;</code></td><td>Esc u</td><td>undelete all messages in subthread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;undelete-thread&gt;</code></td><td>^U</td><td>undelete all messages in thread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;view-attachments&gt;</code></td><td>v</td><td>show MIME attachments</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;show-version&gt;</code></td><td>V</td><td>show the Mutt version number and date</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;set-flag&gt;</code></td><td>w</td><td>set a status flag on a message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;clear-flag&gt;</code></td><td>W</td><td>clear a status flag from a message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;display-message&gt;</code></td><td>&lt;Return&gt;</td><td>display a message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;buffy-list&gt;</code></td><td>.</td><td>list mailboxes with new mail</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;sync-mailbox&gt;</code></td><td>$</td><td>save changes to mailbox</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;display-address&gt;</code></td><td>@</td><td>display full address of sender</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;pipe-message&gt;</code></td><td>|</td><td>pipe message/attachment to a shell command</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-new&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>jump to the next new message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-new-then-unread&gt;</code></td><td>&lt;Tab&gt;</td><td>jump to the next new or unread message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-new&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>jump to the previous new message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-new-then-unread&gt;</code></td><td>Esc &lt;Tab&gt;</td><td>jump to the previous new or unread message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-unread&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>jump to the next unread message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-unread&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>jump to the previous unread message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;parent-message&gt;</code></td><td>P</td><td>jump to parent message in thread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;extract-keys&gt;</code></td><td>^K</td><td>extract supported public keys</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;forget-passphrase&gt;</code></td><td>^F</td><td>wipe passphrase(s) from memory</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;check-traditional-pgp&gt;</code></td><td>Esc P</td><td>check for classic PGP</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;mail-key&gt;</code></td><td>Esc k</td><td>mail a PGP public key</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;decrypt-copy&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>make decrypted copy</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;decrypt-save&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>make decrypted copy and delete</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pager-map"></a>4.3. Pager Menu</h3></div></div></div><div class="table"><a id="tab-pager-bindings"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.4. Default Pager Menu Bindings</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Default Pager Menu Bindings" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Function</th><th>Default key</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;break-thread&gt;</code></td><td>#</td><td>break the thread in two</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;create-alias&gt;</code></td><td>a</td><td>create an alias from a message sender</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;bounce-message&gt;</code></td><td>b</td><td>remail a message to another user</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;change-folder&gt;</code></td><td>c</td><td>open a different folder</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;change-folder-readonly&gt;</code></td><td>Esc c</td><td>open a different folder in read only mode</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-unread-mailbox&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>open next mailbox with new mail</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;copy-message&gt;</code></td><td>C</td><td>copy a message to a file/mailbox</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;decode-copy&gt;</code></td><td>Esc C</td><td>make decoded (text/plain) copy</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;delete-message&gt;</code></td><td>d</td><td>delete the current entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;delete-thread&gt;</code></td><td>^D</td><td>delete all messages in thread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;delete-subthread&gt;</code></td><td>Esc d</td><td>delete all messages in subthread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;set-flag&gt;</code></td><td>w</td><td>set a status flag on a message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;clear-flag&gt;</code></td><td>W</td><td>clear a status flag from a message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit&gt;</code></td><td>e</td><td>edit the raw message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-type&gt;</code></td><td>^E</td><td>edit attachment content type</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;forward-message&gt;</code></td><td>f</td><td>forward a message with comments</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;flag-message&gt;</code></td><td>F</td><td>toggle a message's 'important' flag</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;group-reply&gt;</code></td><td>g</td><td>reply to all recipients</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;imap-fetch-mail&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>force retrieval of mail from IMAP server</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;imap-logout-all&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>logout from all IMAP servers</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;display-toggle-weed&gt;</code></td><td>h</td><td>display message and toggle header weeding</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-undeleted&gt;</code></td><td>j</td><td>move to the next undeleted message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-entry&gt;</code></td><td>J</td><td>move to the next entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-undeleted&gt;</code></td><td>k</td><td>move to the previous undeleted message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-entry&gt;</code></td><td>K</td><td>move to the previous entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;link-threads&gt;</code></td><td>&amp;</td><td>link tagged message to the current one</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;list-reply&gt;</code></td><td>L</td><td>reply to specified mailing list</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;redraw-screen&gt;</code></td><td>^L</td><td>clear and redraw the screen</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;mail&gt;</code></td><td>m</td><td>compose a new mail message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;mark-as-new&gt;</code></td><td>N</td><td>toggle a message's 'new' flag</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;search-next&gt;</code></td><td>n</td><td>search for next match</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-thread&gt;</code></td><td>^N</td><td>jump to the next thread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-subthread&gt;</code></td><td>Esc n</td><td>jump to the next subthread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;sort-mailbox&gt;</code></td><td>o</td><td>sort messages</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;sort-reverse&gt;</code></td><td>O</td><td>sort messages in reverse order</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;print-message&gt;</code></td><td>p</td><td>print the current entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-thread&gt;</code></td><td>^P</td><td>jump to previous thread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-subthread&gt;</code></td><td>Esc p</td><td>jump to previous subthread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;quit&gt;</code></td><td>Q</td><td>save changes to mailbox and quit</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;exit&gt;</code></td><td>q</td><td>exit this menu</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;reply&gt;</code></td><td>r</td><td>reply to a message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;recall-message&gt;</code></td><td>R</td><td>recall a postponed message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;read-thread&gt;</code></td><td>^R</td><td>mark the current thread as read</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;read-subthread&gt;</code></td><td>Esc r</td><td>mark the current subthread as read</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;resend-message&gt;</code></td><td>Esc e</td><td>use the current message as a template for a new one</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;save-message&gt;</code></td><td>s</td><td>save message/attachment to a mailbox/file</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;skip-quoted&gt;</code></td><td>S</td><td>skip beyond quoted text</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;decode-save&gt;</code></td><td>Esc s</td><td>make decoded copy (text/plain) and delete</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;tag-message&gt;</code></td><td>t</td><td>tag the current entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;toggle-quoted&gt;</code></td><td>T</td><td>toggle display of quoted text</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;undelete-message&gt;</code></td><td>u</td><td>undelete the current entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;undelete-subthread&gt;</code></td><td>Esc u</td><td>undelete all messages in subthread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;undelete-thread&gt;</code></td><td>^U</td><td>undelete all messages in thread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;view-attachments&gt;</code></td><td>v</td><td>show MIME attachments</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;show-version&gt;</code></td><td>V</td><td>show the Mutt version number and date</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;search-toggle&gt;</code></td><td>\\</td><td>toggle search pattern coloring</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;display-address&gt;</code></td><td>@</td><td>display full address of sender</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-new&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>jump to the next new message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;pipe-message&gt;</code></td><td>|</td><td>pipe message/attachment to a shell command</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;help&gt;</code></td><td>?</td><td>this screen</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-page&gt;</code></td><td>&lt;Space&gt;</td><td>move to the next page</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-page&gt;</code></td><td>-</td><td>move to the previous page</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;top&gt;</code></td><td>^</td><td>jump to the top of the message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;sync-mailbox&gt;</code></td><td>$</td><td>save changes to mailbox</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;shell-escape&gt;</code></td><td>!</td><td>invoke a command in a subshell</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;enter-command&gt;</code></td><td>:</td><td>enter a muttrc command</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;buffy-list&gt;</code></td><td>.</td><td>list mailboxes with new mail</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;search&gt;</code></td><td>/</td><td>search for a regular expression</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;search-reverse&gt;</code></td><td>Esc /</td><td>search backwards for a regular expression</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;search-opposite&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>search for next match in opposite direction</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-line&gt;</code></td><td>&lt;Return&gt;</td><td>scroll down one line</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;jump&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>jump to an index number</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;next-unread&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>jump to the next unread message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-new&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>jump to the previous new message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-unread&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>jump to the previous unread message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;half-up&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>scroll up 1/2 page</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;half-down&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>scroll down 1/2 page</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;previous-line&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>scroll up one line</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;bottom&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>jump to the bottom of the message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;parent-message&gt;</code></td><td>P</td><td>jump to parent message in thread</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;check-traditional-pgp&gt;</code></td><td>Esc P</td><td>check for classic PGP</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;mail-key&gt;</code></td><td>Esc k</td><td>mail a PGP public key</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;extract-keys&gt;</code></td><td>^K</td><td>extract supported public keys</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;forget-passphrase&gt;</code></td><td>^F</td><td>wipe passphrase(s) from memory</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;decrypt-copy&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>make decrypted copy</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;decrypt-save&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>make decrypted copy and delete</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;what-key&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>display the keycode for a key press</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="alias-map"></a>4.4. Alias Menu</h3></div></div></div><div class="table"><a id="tab-alias-bindings"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.5. Default Alias Menu Bindings</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Default Alias Menu Bindings" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Function</th><th>Default key</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;delete-entry&gt;</code></td><td>d</td><td>delete the current entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;undelete-entry&gt;</code></td><td>u</td><td>undelete the current entry</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="query-map"></a>4.5. Query Menu</h3></div></div></div><div class="table"><a id="tab-query-bindings"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.6. Default Query Menu Bindings</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Default Query Menu Bindings" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Function</th><th>Default key</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;create-alias&gt;</code></td><td>a</td><td>create an alias from a message sender</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;mail&gt;</code></td><td>m</td><td>compose a new mail message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;query&gt;</code></td><td>Q</td><td>query external program for addresses</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;query-append&gt;</code></td><td>A</td><td>append new query results to current results</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="attachment-map"></a>4.6. Attachment Menu</h3></div></div></div><div class="table"><a id="tab-attachment-bindings"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.7. Default Attachment Menu Bindings</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Default Attachment Menu Bindings" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Function</th><th>Default key</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;bounce-message&gt;</code></td><td>b</td><td>remail a message to another user</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;display-toggle-weed&gt;</code></td><td>h</td><td>display message and toggle header weeding</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-type&gt;</code></td><td>^E</td><td>edit attachment content type</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;print-entry&gt;</code></td><td>p</td><td>print the current entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;save-entry&gt;</code></td><td>s</td><td>save message/attachment to a mailbox/file</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;pipe-entry&gt;</code></td><td>|</td><td>pipe message/attachment to a shell command</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;view-mailcap&gt;</code></td><td>m</td><td>force viewing of attachment using mailcap</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;reply&gt;</code></td><td>r</td><td>reply to a message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;resend-message&gt;</code></td><td>Esc e</td><td>use the current message as a template for a new one</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;group-reply&gt;</code></td><td>g</td><td>reply to all recipients</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;list-reply&gt;</code></td><td>L</td><td>reply to specified mailing list</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;forward-message&gt;</code></td><td>f</td><td>forward a message with comments</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;view-text&gt;</code></td><td>T</td><td>view attachment as text</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;view-attach&gt;</code></td><td>&lt;Return&gt;</td><td>view attachment using mailcap entry if necessary</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;delete-entry&gt;</code></td><td>d</td><td>delete the current entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;undelete-entry&gt;</code></td><td>u</td><td>undelete the current entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;collapse-parts&gt;</code></td><td>v</td><td>Toggle display of subparts</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;check-traditional-pgp&gt;</code></td><td>Esc P</td><td>check for classic PGP</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;extract-keys&gt;</code></td><td>^K</td><td>extract supported public keys</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;forget-passphrase&gt;</code></td><td>^F</td><td>wipe passphrase(s) from memory</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="compose-map"></a>4.7. Compose Menu</h3></div></div></div><div class="table"><a id="tab-compose-bindings"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.8. Default Compose Menu Bindings</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Default Compose Menu Bindings" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Function</th><th>Default key</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;attach-file&gt;</code></td><td>a</td><td>attach file(s) to this message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;attach-message&gt;</code></td><td>A</td><td>attach message(s) to this message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-bcc&gt;</code></td><td>b</td><td>edit the BCC list</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-cc&gt;</code></td><td>c</td><td>edit the CC list</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;copy-file&gt;</code></td><td>C</td><td>save message/attachment to a mailbox/file</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;detach-file&gt;</code></td><td>D</td><td>delete the current entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;toggle-disposition&gt;</code></td><td>^D</td><td>toggle disposition between inline/attachment</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-description&gt;</code></td><td>d</td><td>edit attachment description</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-message&gt;</code></td><td>e</td><td>edit the message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-headers&gt;</code></td><td>E</td><td>edit the message with headers</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-file&gt;</code></td><td>^X e</td><td>edit the file to be attached</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-encoding&gt;</code></td><td>^E</td><td>edit attachment transfer-encoding</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-from&gt;</code></td><td>Esc f</td><td>edit the from field</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-fcc&gt;</code></td><td>f</td><td>enter a file to save a copy of this message in</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;filter-entry&gt;</code></td><td>F</td><td>filter attachment through a shell command</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;get-attachment&gt;</code></td><td>G</td><td>get a temporary copy of an attachment</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;display-toggle-weed&gt;</code></td><td>h</td><td>display message and toggle header weeding</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;ispell&gt;</code></td><td>i</td><td>run ispell on the message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;print-entry&gt;</code></td><td>l</td><td>print the current entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-mime&gt;</code></td><td>m</td><td>edit attachment using mailcap entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;new-mime&gt;</code></td><td>n</td><td>compose new attachment using mailcap entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;postpone-message&gt;</code></td><td>P</td><td>save this message to send later</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-reply-to&gt;</code></td><td>r</td><td>edit the Reply-To field</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;rename-file&gt;</code></td><td>R</td><td>rename/move an attached file</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-subject&gt;</code></td><td>s</td><td>edit the subject of this message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-to&gt;</code></td><td>t</td><td>edit the TO list</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;edit-type&gt;</code></td><td>^T</td><td>edit attachment content type</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;write-fcc&gt;</code></td><td>w</td><td>write the message to a folder</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;toggle-unlink&gt;</code></td><td>u</td><td>toggle whether to delete file after sending it</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;toggle-recode&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>toggle recoding of this attachment</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;update-encoding&gt;</code></td><td>U</td><td>update an attachment's encoding info</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;view-attach&gt;</code></td><td>&lt;Return&gt;</td><td>view attachment using mailcap entry if necessary</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;send-message&gt;</code></td><td>y</td><td>send the message</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;pipe-entry&gt;</code></td><td>|</td><td>pipe message/attachment to a shell command</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;attach-key&gt;</code></td><td>Esc k</td><td>attach a PGP public key</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;pgp-menu&gt;</code></td><td>p</td><td>show PGP options</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;forget-passphrase&gt;</code></td><td>^F</td><td>wipe passphrase(s) from memory</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;smime-menu&gt;</code></td><td>S</td><td>show S/MIME options</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;mix&gt;</code></td><td>M</td><td>send the message through a mixmaster remailer chain</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="postpone-map"></a>4.8. Postpone Menu</h3></div></div></div><div class="table"><a id="tab-postpone-bindings"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.9. Default Postpone Menu Bindings</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Default Postpone Menu Bindings" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Function</th><th>Default key</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;delete-entry&gt;</code></td><td>d</td><td>delete the current entry</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;undelete-entry&gt;</code></td><td>u</td><td>undelete the current entry</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="browser-map"></a>4.9. Browser Menu</h3></div></div></div><div class="table"><a id="tab-browser-bindings"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.10. Default Browser Menu Bindings</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Default Browser Menu Bindings" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Function</th><th>Default key</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;change-dir&gt;</code></td><td>c</td><td>change directories</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;display-filename&gt;</code></td><td>@</td><td>display the currently selected file's name</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;enter-mask&gt;</code></td><td>m</td><td>enter a file mask</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;sort&gt;</code></td><td>o</td><td>sort messages</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;sort-reverse&gt;</code></td><td>O</td><td>sort messages in reverse order</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;select-new&gt;</code></td><td>N</td><td>select a new file in this directory</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;check-new&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>check mailboxes for new mail</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;toggle-mailboxes&gt;</code></td><td>&lt;Tab&gt;</td><td>toggle whether to browse mailboxes or all files</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;view-file&gt;</code></td><td>&lt;Space&gt;</td><td>view file</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;buffy-list&gt;</code></td><td>.</td><td>list mailboxes with new mail</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;create-mailbox&gt;</code></td><td>C</td><td>create a new mailbox (IMAP only)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;delete-mailbox&gt;</code></td><td>d</td><td>delete the current mailbox (IMAP only)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;rename-mailbox&gt;</code></td><td>r</td><td>rename the current mailbox (IMAP only)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;subscribe&gt;</code></td><td>s</td><td>subscribe to current mailbox (IMAP only)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;unsubscribe&gt;</code></td><td>u</td><td>unsubscribe from current mailbox (IMAP only)</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;toggle-subscribed&gt;</code></td><td>T</td><td>toggle view all/subscribed mailboxes (IMAP only)</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="pgp-map"></a>4.10. Pgp Menu</h3></div></div></div><div class="table"><a id="tab-pgp-bindings"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.11. Default Pgp Menu Bindings</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Default Pgp Menu Bindings" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Function</th><th>Default key</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;verify-key&gt;</code></td><td>c</td><td>verify a PGP public key</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;view-name&gt;</code></td><td>%</td><td>view the key's user id</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="smime-map"></a>4.11. Smime Menu</h3></div></div></div><div class="table"><a id="tab-smime-bindings"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.12. Default Smime Menu Bindings</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Default Smime Menu Bindings" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Function</th><th>Default key</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;verify-key&gt;</code></td><td>c</td><td>verify a PGP public key</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;view-name&gt;</code></td><td>%</td><td>view the key's user id</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="mixmaster-map"></a>4.12. Mixmaster Menu</h3></div></div></div><div class="table"><a id="tab-mixmaster-bindings"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.13. Default Mixmaster Menu Bindings</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Default Mixmaster Menu Bindings" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Function</th><th>Default key</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;accept&gt;</code></td><td>&lt;Return&gt;</td><td>Accept the chain constructed</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;append&gt;</code></td><td>a</td><td>Append a remailer to the chain</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;insert&gt;</code></td><td>i</td><td>Insert a remailer into the chain</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;delete&gt;</code></td><td>d</td><td>Delete a remailer from the chain</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;chain-prev&gt;</code></td><td>&lt;Left&gt;</td><td>Select the previous element of the chain</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;chain-next&gt;</code></td><td>&lt;Right&gt;</td><td>Select the next element of the chain</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /></div><div class="sect2"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a id="editor-map"></a>4.13. Editor Menu</h3></div></div></div><div class="table"><a id="tab-editor-bindings"></a><p class="title"><strong>Table 9.14. Default Editor Menu Bindings</strong></p><div class="table-contents"><table summary="Default Editor Menu Bindings" border="1"><colgroup><col /><col /><col /></colgroup><thead><tr><th>Function</th><th>Default key</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;bol&gt;</code></td><td>^A</td><td>jump to the beginning of the line</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;backward-char&gt;</code></td><td>^B</td><td>move the cursor one character to the left</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;backward-word&gt;</code></td><td>Esc b</td><td>move the cursor to the beginning of the word</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;capitalize-word&gt;</code></td><td>Esc c</td><td>capitalize the word</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;downcase-word&gt;</code></td><td>Esc l</td><td>convert the word to lower case</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;upcase-word&gt;</code></td><td>Esc u</td><td>convert the word to upper case</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;delete-char&gt;</code></td><td>^D</td><td>delete the char under the cursor</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;eol&gt;</code></td><td>^E</td><td>jump to the end of the line</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;forward-char&gt;</code></td><td>^F</td><td>move the cursor one character to the right</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;forward-word&gt;</code></td><td>Esc f</td><td>move the cursor to the end of the word</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;backspace&gt;</code></td><td>&lt;Backspace&gt;</td><td>delete the char in front of the cursor</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;kill-eol&gt;</code></td><td>^K</td><td>delete chars from cursor to end of line</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;kill-eow&gt;</code></td><td>Esc d</td><td>delete chars from the cursor to the end of the word</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;kill-line&gt;</code></td><td>^U</td><td>delete all chars on the line</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;quote-char&gt;</code></td><td>^V</td><td>quote the next typed key</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;kill-word&gt;</code></td><td>^W</td><td>delete the word in front of the cursor</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;complete&gt;</code></td><td>&lt;Tab&gt;</td><td>complete filename or alias</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;complete-query&gt;</code></td><td>^T</td><td>complete address with query</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;buffy-cycle&gt;</code></td><td>&lt;Space&gt;</td><td>cycle among incoming mailboxes</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;history-up&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>scroll up through the history list</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;history-down&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>scroll down through the history list</td></tr><tr><td><code class="literal">&lt;transpose-chars&gt;</code></td><td> </td><td>transpose character under cursor with previous</td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><br class="table-break" /></div></div></div><div class="chapter"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h1 class="title"><a id="miscellany"></a>Chapter 10. Miscellany</h1></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><strong>Table of Contents</strong></p><dl class="toc"><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#acknowledgements">1. Acknowledgements</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="#about">2. About This Document</a></span></dt></dl></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="acknowledgements"></a>1. Acknowledgements</h2></div></div></div><p>
Kari Hurtta <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:kari.hurtta@fmi.fi">kari.hurtta@fmi.fi</a>&gt;</code> co-developed the original
MIME parsing code back in the ELM-ME days.
</p><p>
The following people have been very helpful to the development of Mutt:
</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul class="itemizedlist" style="list-style-type: disc; "><li class="listitem"><p>Vikas Agnihotri <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:vikasa@writeme.com">vikasa@writeme.com</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Francois Berjon <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:Francois.Berjon@aar.alcatel-alsthom.fr">Francois.Berjon@aar.alcatel-alsthom.fr</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Aric Blumer <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:aric@fore.com">aric@fore.com</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>John Capo <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:jc@irbs.com">jc@irbs.com</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>David Champion <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:dgc@uchicago.edu">dgc@uchicago.edu</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Brendan Cully <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:brendan@kublai.com">brendan@kublai.com</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Liviu Daia <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:daia@stoilow.imar.ro">daia@stoilow.imar.ro</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Thomas E. Dickey <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:dickey@herndon4.his.com">dickey@herndon4.his.com</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>David DeSimone <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:fox@convex.hp.com">fox@convex.hp.com</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Nickolay N. Dudorov <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:nnd@wint.itfs.nsk.su">nnd@wint.itfs.nsk.su</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Ruslan Ermilov <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:ru@freebsd.org">ru@freebsd.org</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Edmund Grimley Evans <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:edmundo@rano.org">edmundo@rano.org</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Michael Finken <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:finken@conware.de">finken@conware.de</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Sven Guckes <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:guckes@math.fu-berlin.de">guckes@math.fu-berlin.de</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Lars Hecking <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:lhecking@nmrc.ie">lhecking@nmrc.ie</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Mark Holloman <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:holloman@nando.net">holloman@nando.net</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Andreas Holzmann <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:holzmann@fmi.uni-passau.de">holzmann@fmi.uni-passau.de</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Marco d'Itri <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:md@linux.it">md@linux.it</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Björn Jacke <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:bjacke@suse.com">bjacke@suse.com</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Byrial Jensen <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:byrial@image.dk">byrial@image.dk</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>David Jeske <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:jeske@igcom.net">jeske@igcom.net</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Christophe Kalt <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:kalt@hugo.int-evry.fr">kalt@hugo.int-evry.fr</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Tommi Komulainen <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:Tommi.Komulainen@iki.fi">Tommi.Komulainen@iki.fi</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Felix von Leitner (a.k.a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Fefe</span>”</span>) <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:leitner@math.fu-berlin.de">leitner@math.fu-berlin.de</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Brandon Long <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:blong@fiction.net">blong@fiction.net</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Jimmy Mäkelä <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:jmy@flashback.net">jmy@flashback.net</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Lars Marowsky-Bree <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:lmb@pointer.in-minden.de">lmb@pointer.in-minden.de</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Thomas <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">Mike</span>”</span> Michlmayr <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:mike@cosy.sbg.ac.at">mike@cosy.sbg.ac.at</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Andrew W. Nosenko <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:awn@bcs.zp.ua">awn@bcs.zp.ua</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>David O'Brien <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:obrien@Nuxi.cs.ucdavis.edu">obrien@Nuxi.cs.ucdavis.edu</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Clint Olsen <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:olsenc@ichips.intel.com">olsenc@ichips.intel.com</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Park Myeong Seok <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:pms@romance.kaist.ac.kr">pms@romance.kaist.ac.kr</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Thomas Parmelan <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:tom@ankh.fr.eu.org">tom@ankh.fr.eu.org</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Ollivier Robert <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:roberto@keltia.freenix.fr">roberto@keltia.freenix.fr</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Thomas Roessler <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:roessler@does-not-exist.org">roessler@does-not-exist.org</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Roland Rosenfeld <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:roland@spinnaker.de">roland@spinnaker.de</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Rocco Rutte <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:pdmef@gmx.net">pdmef@gmx.net</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>TAKIZAWA Takashi <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:taki@luna.email.ne.jp">taki@luna.email.ne.jp</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Allain Thivillon <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:Allain.Thivillon@alma.fr">Allain.Thivillon@alma.fr</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Gero Treuner <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:gero@70t.de">gero@70t.de</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Vsevolod Volkov <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:vvv@lucky.net">vvv@lucky.net</a>&gt;</code></p></li><li class="listitem"><p>Ken Weinert <code class="email">&lt;<a class="email" href="mailto:kenw@ihs.com">kenw@ihs.com</a>&gt;</code></p></li></ul></div></div><div class="sect1"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a id="about"></a>2. About This Document</h2></div></div></div><p>
This document was written in <a class="ulink" href="http://docbook.sourceforge.net" target="_top">DocBook</a>, and then rendered
using the <a class="ulink" href="http://xmlsoft.org/XSLT/" target="_top">Gnome XSLT
toolkit</a>.
</p></div></div></div></body></html>